Ministry Overview

The Forest Service is the main agency responsible for the stewardship of 47 million hectares of provincial forestland. In addition, the ministry provides fire protection services for 84 million hectares. Managing these provincial forests presents a unique and complex set of challenges. More than 90 per cent of British Columbia's forest lands are publicly owned, which means that the provincial government, on behalf of the public, plays a much more prominent role in the forest sector than its counterparts in other forestry jurisdictions.

The ministry pursues its goals for sustainable forest resources and benefits in a consultative manner with the public, industry and other Crown agencies, while recognizing the unique interests of aboriginal people. In this way the ministry works to earn the public's trust as our staff make day to day decisions which ensure that all British Columbians can look forward to healthy forests and a strong forest economy now and in the future.

The Ministry of Forests' organizational structure and the legislation for which the Ministry is responsible is outlined in Appendix 2.