ANNUAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
Our sustainable future, built with renewable products.
Guided by this vision, our people work hard to supply critical wood products the world needs and fulfill our commitments to our global customers sustainably and responsibly.
“Sustainability” refers to more than managing forest tenures and carbon emissions at Western. It is at the core of all aspects of our business: employee safety and wellness, Indigenous relationships and reconciliation, community engagement, operational and technical excellence.
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Fostering healthy, thriving forests is essential to our success as a company, and is also essential to our commitment to global climate action.
B.C. enforces some of the most stringent forest management standards on the planet, and 100 per cent of Western’s managed tenures are third-party certified.
We sustainably manage 1.62 million hectares of land with a science-based approach, utilizing the most current technology. Western’s 250-year planning cycle includes:
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- Employing a variable retention silvicultural system on over half of the area we harvest;
- Leaving behind Big Trees;
- Protecting sacred sites and critical habitats;
- Doing our part to ensure that old-growth and forest diversity are maintained forever.
Manufacturing long-lived wood products from responsibly-managed forests contributes to a better world for everyone. Our activities, from the forest to the mill to the products we make, are having a positive impact on the climate.
Through careful management of forests, Western is a net carbon sink, meaning more carbon is being removed from the atmosphere than emitted. By reducing GHG emissions and sequestering more carbon than emitted, we are meeting and exceeding provincial, national, and international climate targets.
In 2022, we expanded the scope of our carbon accounting to include our Columbia Vista, Calvert and Arlington divisions, meaning that our net carbon balance now reflects all of our North American operations. Western will continue to monitor our activities and make fact-based decisions to ensure that our business is actively reducing atmospheric carbon levels and supporting a better future for generations.
Western acknowledges and respects the rights and interests of Indigenous groups in the areas where we operate.
We are committed to advancing reconciliation with meaningful, mutually beneficial business partnerships, and we are excited by the innovative ideas and practices being developed through collaboration with Indigenous groups.
Our timberlands operations and manufacturing facilities in B.C. are located on the traditional lands of more than 50 First Nations. Alongside these groups, Western is developing world-leading models of forest stewardship that incorporate Indigenous knowledge and values, reflect the shared goals of meaningful reconciliation, and are deliverable on the ground. We engage with Indigenous groups as early as possible to address their interests in the planning process and before harvesting begins. We also offer sustainable employment, contribute to cultural initiatives and support industry training opportunities.