Japanese Group Learns Why Wood from BC is Good!!
Earlier this month COFI (Coast) and Canada Wood hosted an inbound mission of nine Japanese wood industry personnel. After all the pandemic-related lockdowns and travel bans, this was our first incoming mission in approximately 3 years. The 5-day tour was designed to provide the participants with a comprehensive overview of BC sustainable forest management practices, including planning, harvesting and reforestation, as well as tours of several member mills to show the manufacturing process and quality of hem-fir lumber from Coastal BC. The group visited a forestry center in Saanich to learn how seedlings for reforestation are cultivated. Later they spent several hours at the University of Vancouver Island’s demonstration forest near Nanaimo to learn about Coastal logging practices. While in Nanaimo we also toured two mills before travelling to Vancouver to tour several wood buildings at UBC and visit a mill in Surrey. The participants seemed very pleased to visit Canada – for most it was their first time – and commented that the information acquired would benefit their work. After over two years with no industry visitors from overseas, it was nice to see things returning to normal!!
