Canada’s forests are iconic; sprawling green giants that store carbon, shelter wildlife, and support communities. We depend on them for climate stability, biodiversity, Indigenous reconciliation, recreation, and thousands of everyday products. But behind the postcard image lies a growing crisis: Canada’s forests are being degraded, and business-as-usual logging is pushing ecosystems and communities to the brink.

And yet, if you read the federal government’s annual State of the Forest Report you’d think that the logging industry has a minimal carbon footprint, doesn’t impact forest biodiversity or climate change, is highly aligned with Indigenous rights, and has an overall strong record of environmental stewardship. This just isn’t true.

So what is the truth? Nature Canada, along with other leading North American environmental organizations have come together to show the True State of Canada’s Forests, and unfortunately it isn’t pretty.

Logging Our Way Into the Climate Crisis

Despite the claims of both government and industry, logging is not carbon neutral. In fact, industrial logging is Canada’s third highest-emitting sector after oil and gas, (p.28) and transportation, responsible for more than 10% of national greenhouse gas emissions each year. When old forests are clearcut, they lose their carbon storage and they often become more vulnerable to wildfire, floods, and pests which result in even more emissions that aren’t counted in Canada’s totals.

Industrial development, especially logging, has left deep scars across the landscape. Canada is crisscrossed by over 1.5 million kilometres of logging and access roads, enough to wrap around the Earth 37 times. These roads fragment once-intact forests, disrupt predator-prey relationships and increase pressure on wildlife like caribou, moose, and lake trout.

Critical habitats, especially in mature and old-growth forests, are shrinking fast. From the boreal to the coastal rainforests, these unique ecosystems are home to species like caribou and forest songbirds that simply can’t survive in younger, managed forests.

Despite claiming to be climate champions, current forestry practices like glyphosate spraying, fire suppression, and dense conifer planting are making our forests more flammable, less biodiverse, and less resilient (p.23).

It’s Time for Transparency and Accountability

For too long, Canada has looked outward, criticizing deforestation in the Global South, while ignoring the degradation happening at home. With increasing foreign ownership in our forestry sector, this lack of accountability is more troubling than ever.

We need a new model of forest planning, one that prioritizes ecological health, respects Indigenous rights, and is grounded in transparency. That starts with one simple but powerful step: honest, public reporting on the true state of Canada’s forests.

Canada’s forests can still be part of a hopeful future, but only if we stop pretending they’re fine and start managing them like they matter.

Speak for the trees, animals and people affected by wildfires!
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Learn about everything Nature Canada is doing to protect and restore our forests here.