Percent 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Boreal Cordillera Montane Cordillera Taiga Cordillera Pacific Maritime Arctic Cordillera Taiga Plains Hudson Plains Boreal Plains 52 Boreal Shield High Arctic Atlantic Maritime Figure 55. Percent of area protected by ecozone Low Arctic Taiga Shield Prairies Mixedwood Plains
6 Summary CanFI<strong>2001</strong> is the latest statement on Canada’s <strong>Forest</strong> <strong>Inventory</strong>. Compiled electronically at roughly five-year intervals since 1981 (in 1981, 1986, 1991 and <strong>2001</strong>), CanFI collates the most recent provincial, territorial and other forest management inventories. It provides detailed, location-specific information on the characteristics and quantity of Canada’s forests that is consistent with forest management information. It provides data that supports the Criteria and Indicator processes that monitor sustainable development, policy-making, national and international inquiries (for example, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Global <strong>Forest</strong> Resources Assessment), and reports on climate change. CanFI data is also made available to other government departments, research institutions, non-governmental organizations and the public. Before 1981, the national forest inventory was compiled on the basis of questionnaires completed by provincial and territorial forest management agencies. Some of the improvements in CanFI<strong>2001</strong> over previous versions include: • Information for all of Canada, not only forested areas; • More detailed description of the land and what is on it; • Estimates of forest biomass. There are differences between successive CanFI reports: some differences reflect real change resulting from either a natural or human-caused change in forest condition; other differences are artifacts of change resulting from modifications in proce<strong>du</strong>res, standards and definitions between successive inventories. For example, changing the definition of forest from a minimum of 20% crown closure to 10% crown closure would result in increased forest area totals. Similarly, more precise methodologies could result in changes to forest estimates. There is a difference in the area classified as forest between 1991 and <strong>2001</strong>. <strong>Forest</strong> area (including other wooded land) is now estimated to be 402.1 million ha, down from 417.6 million ha in 1991. This is likely <strong>du</strong>e to changes in methodology that have affected estimates. For example, CanFI<strong>2001</strong>’s area estimates for northern Canada are based on interpretation of coarse-resolution satellite data, which improves the ability to differentiate forest from non-forest areas relative to previous methods. Thus, areas that were previously thought to be forested are, in fact, not. Finer-resolution data available in the future will improve ability to define area of forest and could result in further changes. The difference in estimates for southern Canada is much smaller. Estimates have improved as provinces have improved their inventory methodologies; this is another factor in the difference in forest area. CanFI<strong>2001</strong> was designed to provide the best available information on the characteristics and quantity of Canada’s forests; it was not designed to assess change over time. Comparing summaries between successive CanFI reports may be misleading without detailed background knowledge. Canada’s current national inventory is a periodic compilation of existing inventory from across the country. Although the current approach has many advantages, it lacks information on the nature and rate of changes to the resource, and does not permit projections or forecasts. Being a compilation of inventories of different dates that were collected to varying standards, the current national forest inventory, although consisting of the best available information, cannot reflect the current state of the forests and, therefore, should not be used as a satisfactory baseline for monitoring change. To address the need to determine change over time and to support increasing demands for additional forest resource information, the Canadian <strong>Forest</strong> <strong>Inventory</strong> Committee, a sub-committee of the Canadian Council of <strong>Forest</strong> Ministers Information and Knowledge Working Group, has developed a different approach for the National <strong>Forest</strong> <strong>Inventory</strong> (NFI): a plot-based system of permanent observational units 53
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