Glossary

Aboriginal

Relating to all indigenous people of Canada, including Indians (status and non-status), Metis, and Inuit people (as defined in the Constitution Act of 1982).

(BC Treaty Negotiations Office, Glossary of Treaty-Related Terms. http://www.gov.bc.ca/tno/rpts/glossary/default.htm)

Allowable annual cut (AAC)

The rate of timber harvest permitted each year from a specified area of land. AACs for timber supply areas (TSAs) and tree farm licences (TFLs), which account for most of the provincial harvest, are set by the government’s chief forester in accordance with the Forest Act.

(Adapted from MoF, Glossary of Forestry Terms. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/glossary/)

Biogeoclimatic zone

A geographic area having similar patterns of energy flow, vegetation and soils as a result of a broadly homogenous macroclimate (see zone descriptions).

(MoF, Glossary of Forestry Terms. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/glossary/)

Broadleaved

All trees classified botanically as Angiospermae. Also called "hardwoods". Forest areas are classified as broadleaved if trees accounting for more than 75% of the tree volume (or number of stems in young forest) are broadleaved.

(Adapted from terms and definitions in FAO of the United Nations. 2001. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000. http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y1997e/y1997e1m.htm)

Coarse woody debris

Sound and rotting logs and stumps that provide habitat for plants, animals, and insects and a source of nutrients for soil development.

(MoF, Glossary of Forestry Terms. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/glossary/)

Community forest

A forestry operation managed by a local government, community group, First Nation community-held corporation for the benefit of the entire community. The majority of community forests in B.C. are on Crown land under a timber tenure such as a forest licence, tree farm licence or community forest agreement.

(MoF, Community Forest Agreement Program Fact Sheet, June 2003. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hth/community/)

Coniferous

All trees classified botanically as Gymnospermae. Also called "softwoods". Forest areas are classified as coniferous if trees accounting for more than 75% of the tree volume (or number of stems in young forest) are coniferous.

(Adapted from terms and definitions in FAO of the United Nations. 2001. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000. http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y1997e/y1997e1m.htm)

Criterion

A category of conditions or processes by which sustainable forest management may be assessed. A criterion is characterized by a set of related indicators that are monitored periodically to assess change.

(The Montréal Process. http://www.mpci.org/rep-pub/1995/santiago_e.html#2)

Ecoregion

Major ecosystem, resulting from large-scale predictable patterns of solar radiation and moisture, which in turn affect the kinds of local ecosystems and animals and plants found there.

(Bailey, R.G. 1998. Ecoregions: the ecosystem geography of the oceans and continents. Springer-Verlag: New York)

Ecosection

Ecosections are terrestrial or marine areas that are subdivisions of ecoregions, with minor physiographic and macroclimatic or oceanographic variations. The more than 100 ecosections in British Columbia are mapped at 1:250,000 and used for resource emphasis planning.

(Adapted from MSRM, Ecoregions of British Columbia. http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/ecology/ecoregions/)

Ecosystem

A functional unit consisting of all the living organisms (plants, animals, and microbes) in a given area, and all the non-living physical and chemical factors of their environment, linked together through nutrient cycling and energy flow. An ecosystem can be of any size – a log, pond, field, forest, or the earth’s biosphere – but it always functions as a whole unit. Ecosystems are commonly described according to the major type of vegetation, for example, forest ecosystem, old-growth ecosystem, or range ecosystem.

(MoF, Glossary of Forestry Terms. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/glossary/)

First Nation

1. an aboriginal governing body, organized and established by an aboriginal community, or
2. the aboriginal community itself.

(BC Treaty Negotiations Office, Glossary of Treaty-Related Terms. http://www.gov.bc.ca/tno/rpts/glossary/default.htm)

Forest
Forest land
Forest cover

Forest refers to one or both of land (forest land) and its associated plant community (forest cover), where the land area exceeds 0.5 ha and 10% of the land area is covered by the crowns of trees able to reach a height of 5 m at maturity. Land that temporarily does not meet these criteria, due to human intervention or natural causes, is considered forest if it is expected to revert to forest.

(Adapted from terms and definitions in FAO of the United Nations. 2001. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000. http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y1997e/y1997e1m.htm)

Indicator

A quantitative or qualitative variable used to describe a state or condition. When observed periodically, it shows a trend. It provides information that is factual, usually for a specific time and place.

(Adapted from the definition used by The Montréal Process. http://www.mpci.org/rep-pub/1995/santiago_e.html#2)

IUCN categories of protected areas

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN, known as The World Conservation Union) defines a protected area as "an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means." It divides them into six categories, depending on their objectives:

Category I – Protected area managed mainly for science or wilderness protection (Strict Nature Reserve/Wilderness Area);
Category II – Protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation (National Park);
Category III – Protected area managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features (National Monument);
Category IV – Protected area managed mainly for conservation through management intervention (Habitat/Species Management Area);
Category V – Protected area managed mainly for landscape/seascape conservation and recreation (Protected Landscape/Seascape);
Category VI – Protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems (Managed Resource Protected Area).

The categories reflect a gradient of management intervention. In Categories I–III, strict protection is the rule and natural processes are paramount, Category II and III sites combining this with facilities for visitors. In Category IV, in effect the managed nature reserve, the manager intervenes to conserve or if necessary restore species or habitats. Category V is about protecting cultural, lived-in landscapes, with farms and other forms of land-use. The new Category VI, the sustainable use reserve, is a protected area deliberately set up to allow use of natural resources, mainly for the benefit of local people.

(IUCN. 2000. Protected areas: Benefits beyond boundaries – WCPA in action. http://www.iucn.org/themes/wcpa/pubs/other.htm )

Mixed forest/other wooded land

Forest/other wooded land on which neither coniferous nor broadleaved trees account for more than 75% of the tree volume (or number of stems in young forest).

(Adapted from terms and definitions in FAO of the United Nations. 2001. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000. http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y1997e/y1997e1m.htm)

Natural disturbance

A change in forest structure and composition caused by fire, insects, wind, landslides and other natural processes.

(Adapted from MoF, Glossary of Forestry Terms. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/glossary/)

Old growth

Old growth is a forest that contains live and dead trees of various sizes, species, composition, and age class structure. Old-growth forests, as part of a slowly changing but dynamic ecosystem, include climax forests but not sub-climax or mid-seral forests. The age and structure of old growth varies significantly by forest type and from one biogeoclimatic zone to another.

(MoF, Glossary of Forestry Terms. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/glossary/)

The following working definition based on location, species and age information available from forest cover inventories is used for quantitative analysis in this and other publications:

Old growth is defined as all Coast region forests more than 250 years old, Interior forests dominated by lodgepole pine or deciduous species more than 120 years old, and all other Interior forests more than 140 years old.

Other wooded land

Land with tree crown cover of 5–10% of trees able to reach a height of 5 m at maturity, or with tree crown cover of more than 10% of trees not able to reach a height of 5 m at maturity and shrub or bush cover.

(Adapted from terms and definitions in FAO of the United Nations. 2001. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000. http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y1997e/y1997e1m.htm)

Predominant species

Tree species or species group with the greatest volume per hectare (or number of stems in young forests).

Protected area

The protected areas network of British Columbia includes national and provincial parks, ecological reserves and other areas designated by statute to protect natural and cultural heritage. Proposed protection areas identified in the preliminary land use plan for the Central Coast are also included. Regional parks, municipal parks, wildlife management areas and private conservation lands are not included.

(Adapted from MoF, Glossary of Forestry Terms. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/glossary/)

Second-growth forest

Relatively young forests that have developed following a disturbance (e.g., wholesale cutting, extensive fire, insect attack) of the previous stand of old-growth forest. Restricted in application to those parts of the world where clearly discernible, old-growth forests still exist or did exist not long ago.

(Dunster, J. and Dunster K., 1996. Dictionary of natural resource management. UBC Press: Vancouver)

Special management zone

Zones or areas which are to be managed in such a way as to minimize the risk of undesirable impacts on the important or sensitive resource attributes that are identified for each SMZ. Nearly all of B.C.’s strategic land use plans identify SMZs.

(MSRM, Special Management Zone Working Group Project. http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/rmd/smz/index.htm)

Timber supply area (TSA)

Public (provincial Crown) land designated under the Forest Act that is managed for sustainable timber harvest, as determined by an allowable annual cut.

(Adapted from MoF, Annual report 2003/04 http://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/annualreports/for/default.htm)

Tree farm licence (TFL)

Land designated under the Forest Act that is managed for sustainable timber harvest, as determined by an allowable annual cut. TFLs typically combine public (provincial Crown) land with private land and timber licences. A TFL has a term of 25 years.

(Adapted from MoF, Glossary of Forestry Terms. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/glossary/)

Woodlot licence

Land designated under the Forest Act. It is similar to a tree farm licence but on a smaller scale, and has a term of up to 20 years

(Adapted from MoF, Glossary of Forestry Terms. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/glossary/)