To the Editor: For decades, many Canadians have preferred to dismiss our resource wealth and our iconic image as a vast wilderness full of hewers of wood and instead to recast ourselves as a modern urban nation fueled by a high-tech and service economy. However as we enter the International Year of the Forest, rural Canada including lumberjacks clad in plaid and using satellite technology may have the last laugh.
Canada appears destined to become the envy of the world because of our abundant natural resources, a clear strategic advantage in the decades to come. The value of natural resources will grow because of global scarcity. And as we pursue technical brilliance and environmental excellence in harvesting and processing natural resources, we will be best positioned to benefit from this increasing value. The planet is becoming crowded and more affluent. Between now and 2030 the world's population will grow by 1.3 billion, about the size of the current population of China. Over that same period global GDP will double and personal income in the developing world is expected to triple. That translates into a huge upsurge in demand for increasingly depleted natural resources and a clear economic edge for Canada.
Demand will strain supply not just for energy and minerals but also for land available for farming. The United Nations predicts a 50 percent shortfall of arable land in the next twenty years. This will be an obvious advantage for our agriculture sector but also our forestry sector that now works sustainably in natural forests instead of relying on the huge tree farms found in other countries.
Canada's forest industry is preparing itself for this opportunity. It is not only the globe's most successful exporter of forest products but is also Canada's most successful exporter to the emerging Asian markets. Its environmental leadership is being recognized globally. It is adopting the most sophisticated technology in sawmilling and migrating to a bio refinery model on the pulp and paper side. The industry has also been innovating to extract more value from every tree such as energy, chemicals and pharmaceuticals and as such is becoming a player in the new bioeconomy.
Forestry is already a cornerstone for rural Canada, providing 240,000 direct jobs, and the sector is the economic heart of 200 communities across the country. It is a large source of employment and wealth for first nations. However with the coming resource renaissance it will achieve renewed economic and social status.
We are now emerging from the worst recession of a generation. Markets and profits are returning. But our sights should be set further out to the medium and longer term where the opportunities are immense. To reach our potential, Canada needs to continually strive to be a world leader. But if we play it right, to rephrase the prophecy once made by Sir Wilfred Laurier, the 21st Century will belong to rural Canada.
Avrim Lazar, President and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada.
