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Canada’s lumber and wood industries convert logs into various products, from lumber to wood chips.

The development of the ozone layer is thought to have been a significant factor permitting the evolution of life on Earth. Ozone is the main atmospheric gas that absorbs the biologically damaging part of the sun's ultraviolet radiation (UV radiation), known as UV-B (ultraviolet-biologically active).

Pollution can be defined as the release of any material, energy or organism that may cause immediate or long-term harmful effects to the natural ENVIRONMENT. Pollution was viewed initially as the unsightly mess or visible environmental damage resulting from careless disposal of various materials.

Peat, living and partially decomposed organic matter, consists principally of decayed brown mosses, Sphagnum plants, sedges and other semiaquatic plant remains.

The Freshwater Institute, located on the University of Manitoba campus in Winnipeg, Man, is one of the world's leading research centres for freshwater and Arctic fisheries research.

    A limited space within which living beings interact with nonliving matter at a high level of interdependence to form an environmental unit is called an ecosystem.

Main Forest TypesWorldwide there are 3 main forest types related directly to climatic zones: equatorial- and tropical-region forests, temperate-zone forests, and forests associated with colder climates.

Taiga, see Vegetation Regions.

Hydro-Québec, a provincially owned corporation based in Montréal, is Canada's largest electric utility and, judged by assets ($30.6 billion in 1986), Canada's second largest corporation.

Environmental governance is a term used to describe how decisions about the ENVIRONMENT are made and who makes such decisions. It is a broad term that includes the formal and informal institutional arrangements for resource and environment decision-making and management.

Soil conservation is a combination of all methods of management and land use that safeguard the soil against depletion or deterioration by natural or human-induced factors.

Plant disease can decrease the economic, aesthetic and biological value of all kinds of plants. Plant pathology (phytopathology) is the study of the nature, causes, prevention and socioeconomic aspects of plant diseases.

Since 1967 WWF-Canada has been working with business, government and the public to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment, and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

Foresters use forest surveys to obtain information on the condition of the FOREST and monitor any changes, since there are not only surveys of standing trees, but also surveys after logging as well as forestry surveys aimed at prescribing treatments.

Resource management usually refers to the responsibility of governments to ensure that natural resources under their jurisdiction are used wisely or conserved.

Natural-resource development has played a major role in Canada's economy and continues to be a focus of national concerns.

Silviculture is the branch of FORESTRY that deals with establishing, caring for and reproducing stands of trees for a variety of forest uses including wildlife habitat, timber production and outdoor recreation.