Natural events like forest fires and native insects are normal in Canadian forests and can sometimes even help keep them healthy. But climate change can make these disturbances more severe and widespread.
Human activities add even more pressure. Logging, mining, building roads and trails, expanding communities and introducing invasive species can cause forests to degrade, fragment or become polluted, even changing their structure, from the size and age of trees to the mix of plants that grow there. This can change the forest’s ability to support wildlife, store carbon, filter water and stabilize soil.
Forests are usually resilient to some disturbances, especially natural ones. But when disturbances are too big or pile up over time, ecosystems can reach a tipping point where they can’t recover on their own. To avoid that, we need to manage human impacts carefully and make sure our activities are responsible and sustainable.
