BC wood was used to build the China Hongyang Djuiangfu Art Museum. Photo by Canada Wood China
BRITISH COLUMBIA – With the abundance of forests in BC, one would naturally think that wood would be an obvious construction material of choice.
While popular, the provincial government is pushing wood to the forefront through its Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) naturally:wood – a comprehensive information resource promoting the province as a global supplier of quality, environmentally-responsible forest products from sustainably-managed forests.
naturally:wood is a community and go-to information source where people can learn about BC’s forests and forest products and discover the growing possibilities for it use – from tall timber towers and long-span structures to new biomass and wood-fibre products.
The naturally:wood program also reveals how using of local sustainable wood products can help combat climate change and the negative impacts of carbon emissions.
naturally:wood connects buyers with over 400 suppliers of eco-friendly forest products, from dimension lumber, engineered, mass timber and specialty products, to furniture, doors and windows, pulp, paper and pellets.
Another building featuring BC wood: The Yi Jing Yuan multi-functional hall in Shanghai. Photo by Canada Wood China
FII’s programs are designed to strengthen the forest sector by promoting the merits of wood and forests, fostering leadership and innovation in wood use and expanding markets for BC forest products.
The Market Initiatives program drives growth and development of export markets and new market segments, particularly in the fast-growing Asian market. This program’s wide range of activities help to diversify the sector, open up new opportunities and sustain forest sector employment. The program also focuses on high potential market segments for BC wood products across North America.
Their goals include expanding markets in China, Japan and South Korea, and opening emerging markets in India and Vietnam. Efforts to diversity traditional markets will hopefully expand the use of wood throughout North America’s multi-family and commercial sectors, while ensuring market access through helping to navigate potential barriers.
FII is focusing on advancing its policy, technology and expertise to reflect its position as an early adopter in the forestry and wood products sector, by developing forward-thinking policies through a network of experts and emerging technologies to create new policies for wood.
FII is investing and pioneering the latest science and technology to better manage and protect the forests of the province. To that end, the results are real-life product testing, technical guidebooks, hands-on demonstration projects and practical research – all designed to bring BC’s suppliers to the world.
