Satellite photos show one-third of forests chopped up by industry: report [!-- END HEADLINE --] [DIV id=ynmain][!-- BEGIN STORY BODY --] [DIV id=storybody] [DIV class=storyhdr] [SPAN]BOB WEBER[/SPAN][EM class=timedate]Tue Mar 21, 6:37 PM ET[/i]
[DIV class=spacer][/DIV]
EDMONTON (CP) - Roads, logging, energy development and other industrial activities have already chopped up almost one-third of Canada's forests, according to a report to be released Wednesday by Global Forest Watch.
In a report compiled from more than 1,000 NASA satellite photos, the organization found that nearly all intact forest left in Canada was in the territories and the northern parts of the provinces. Nearly two-thirds of that undisturbed forest was found in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and the Northwest Territories.
Alberta, with only four per cent of Canada's intact forest, has allowed activity in nearly all its woodlands, the report found.
It's the first time a study has taken a uniform look at how much untouched forest is left and where it's located, said Forest Watch director Peter Lee.
"There've been many regional studies, but nothing that's been done nationwide," he said.
"Government and industry do not ask those kinds of questions. They don't want to know the answer."
Lee's report used Landsat photos with enough detail to pick out objects 28 metres in size. It defined an intact forest as an untouched area of at least 100 square kilometres in the northern boreal forest and 50 square kilometres in the temperate forests of the Maritimes, southern Ontario and B.C.
That may seem like a high standard, but Lee said it depends on the context.
"If you're a woodland caribou, it's not very high. If you're a grizzly bear, it's not very high."
In all, the report examined about 6.5 million square kilometres of forest.
Alberta's forests have suffered the heaviest industrial impact, the report found. Only seven of 63 management areas still have more than half the forest intact.
The activity has had predictable results on wildlife habitat.
Less than half of Alberta's woodland caribou habitat and only one-quarter of its grizzly bear range still contain intact forest sections.
"Everybody is aware of how rapidly Alberta is proceeding with industrial development in its forests," said Lee.
Forestry and energy development are a "double whammy" in the province, he said.
Still, the report found that 70 per cent of Canada's forests remain whole and healthy.
Lee said the data can be used to monitor changes in the forest landscape. The information is also useful to environmental groups wanting to develop habitat protection campaigns and to forestry companies working towards environmental certification.
[DIV class=spacer][/DIV][/DIV][/DIV]
