Population and Economic Activity

Land Cover Status of B.C.’s Coastal Forests

Click on graph for larger image.

In the mid-1990s, more than half of the coastal B.C. land base was forested by trees more than 20 years old.

It is estimated that 62% of the land on the B.C. coast was originally covered with forest. Since the early 1800s, about 20% of B.C.’s coastal land area has been disturbed. Disturbances include natural events, such as fire and insect outbreaks, and human activity, such as logging, agriculture, urbanization, and recreational development. Natural non-forest land cover includes alpine, wetlands, range, etc.

As of the mid-1990s:

• 2% of the coastal land area had been converted to human uses, mainly urban use and agriculture. Loss of forest cover was greatest in the lower Fraser Valley and on eastern Vancouver Island.

• Old forest (more than 140 years old) covered 41% of the land. Young forest (20 to 140 years old) covered another 12%.

• 7% of the coastal land area was forest that had been logged or burned within the past 20 years.

For detailed information, including graph data, see In-Depth report.

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