Big Tree Retention

As we, at Western, work to strike a balance between contributing to local economies through harvesting and manufacturing wood products and protecting the environment for the long-term, we are taking a leading role in the identification and conservation of big trees on the lands that we manage.

Ongoing commitment to continuous improvement

As science evolves, Western is continuously improving our practices, with the goal of being a leader in sustainable forest management. One important example has been our work to apply the latest silvicultural systems to our harvesting practices.

Nearly 20 years ago, interest and understanding of how to retain forest biodiversity grew. As the lands that Western now manages were at the forefront of implementing the newest forestry practices by predecessor companies, protecting big trees has been an important aspect of our forest strategy for decades.

Our approach centers around retaining forest structures within the harvestable landbase to maintain ecological diversity over the long term. This involves retaining groups of mature and old growth trees which often complement other forest values, including cultural, wildlife and riparian habitats. These areas are over and above designated legal protected areas and strategies for maintaining forest health over the short and long term including progressive reforestation techniques in harvested stands.

BIG TREE STANDARD

The big tree standard is one component of Western’s commitment to sustainable forest management on the public and private lands in our care.

Our big tree standard was put in place to support our ongoing focus on identifying and protecting big trees.

The standard protects all trees in the B.C. Big Tree Registry, a listing of verified and protected big trees across the province managed by an independent board and housed at the University of British Columbia. The standard also provides specific guidelines by species to identify and conserve the largest iconic trees and unique groupings of big trees on the lands we manage. Any live tree greater or equal to 80 metres tall or meeting the following diameter by species will be retained and buffered:

This standard meets or exceeds government requirements. While we make every effort to protect trees meeting these guidelines, safety concerns take precedent in determining whether a tree can be retained.

We are proud to be one of the first forestry companies in B.C. to have formalized a policy to identify and protect the biggest trees on the private and public lands we manage. As new information becomes more readily available through our investment in technology, these guidelines are being refined – for instance, to include tree height in addition to diameter – marking another step forward in our forest strategy.

Innovating with Technology

Technology is making all our lives easier. From smartphones to cloud computing, it is hard to imagine what we did before these innovations.

At Western, we are harnessing the power of technology to implement efficiencies, strengthen safety and enhance our forest management practices. While big trees have been conserved as part of our forest strategy for nearly twenty years, the way in which we do this has markedly changed through the use of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology, a 3D mapping tool.

In the past, forestry professionals gathered information through field surveys. While these remain important means to assess forestlands, they involve time-consuming and labour-intensive processes. In addition, forests present significant challenges when it comes to obtaining precise and detailed information given their size, areas of difficult terrain and remoteness.

Through the use of LiDAR, Western is now able to meet the need for timely, accurate and comprehensive information over extensive areas. We have been able to accurately and efficiently identify big trees while expanding our definition of big trees to include a tree’s height – something difficult to obtain by traditional methods.

Since implementing LiDAR, we have conserved 353 big trees and are working to verify LiDAR measurements of more than 500 trees that appear to be over 80 meters tall. The tallest tree identified – a 94 metre Douglas fir – stands approximately as tall as a 30 storey building. Trees, such as this one, will be protected as biological anchors to support forest biodiversity.

As a next step, we will be verifying those tall trees identified by LiDAR through field assessments. An enormous leap forward from previous methods, the use of LiDAR represents a new way to meet Western’s long-standing commitment to identifying and protecting some of B.C.’s oldest tress.

Win-win Partnerships

Informed by the spirit of reconciliation, Western works closely with First Nations so that we can all benefit from the forest that we manage. Through our newly created TFL 44 Partnership, Western is exploring with the Huu-ay-aht First Nations ways to build on both parties’ efforts to maintain big trees on its forest tenures in the Alberni Valley and in TFL 44. We are also committed to working with other First Nations to understand and preserve the cultural legacy of iconic trees on whose traditional territories we operate.

Latest News

Download our latest news on how Western is identifying and protecting big trees here.