How much carbon is stored in B.C.'s forests? Audit finds government data is lacking

A new report from B.C.'s auditor general has found that some of the Forests Ministry's carbon modelling practices for how carbon in B.C. forests is stored and released were not adequately documented and not transparent.

The audit, which was released Tuesday, said the government's lack of a defined methodology to calculate the carbon benefit of forest investment projects had a negative effect on the credibility of the ministry's reporting.

The Office of the Auditor General also found that transparent and reproducible methods for calculating forest carbon projections were not used for decisions determining the annual allowable cut of timber.

Acting Auditor General Sheila Dodds said that the office looked at forest investment projects and annual allowable cut allowances, along with the forest landscape planning program.

Of the three areas, Dodds said only the forest landscaping program, approved by the ministry at the end of 2024, had an open and consistent plan, which she had no recommendations on. However, she did ask for more documentation and transparency in the other two areas.

Dodds said her office performed the audit because of the importance of having reliable information on how carbon is stored and released in B.C.'s forests, which she says is critical for forest management decisions.

"It's a new area of science, and so it's an evolving area," she told CBC News.

"This is really just an opportunity to say ... as a ministry, they can look at defining that standard," she added. "You know, there's experience now defining, establishing, that standard."

The auditor general's report says the Forest Ministry uses carbon benefit projections in briefing notes and press releases, to set targets for future forest investments and to compare them with goals set by the ministry in its annual reports.

Dodds says the B.C. Forests Ministry has accepted the audit recommendations.

In its response to the audit, the ministry says decisions to carry out tree planting and fertilization activities are not solely dependent on a finalized carbon modelling methodology.

"It is expected that the methodology will be finalized over the next 12 months and will subsequently go through the appropriate approval process," the response reads, referring to the forest investment program.

"The Ministry's goal is to have this work completed in the spring of 2026."

'Really good report card'

Greg Paradis, an assistant professor of forest management at the University of B.C., said that the Forests Ministry is only mandated to conduct carbon modelling for the forest landscape planning program — the area that the auditor general had no recommendations on.

He said that the auditor general's report seemed to be critical of the optional carbon modelling conducted for the annual allowable cut determinations and the forest investment program, which oversees initiatives like reforestation, specifically when it comes to the ministry's methodology and whether it was able to be replicated.

"They're already going above and beyond, and they did an imperfect job of that," he told CBC News. "But when they were constructively criticized by the auditor general's office, they graciously accepted the criticism and agreed that the recommendation was valid and that they were moving towards that."

Paradis said that the report was an example of government due process taking its course, and he read the audit as a "really good report card" on B.C.'s carbon modelling practices.

Gary Bull, a professor emeritus at UBC's faculty of forestry, said that it was important for B.C. to align itself with international standards when it comes to carbon modelling and carbon markets.

"That's a big difference between us, for example, and the efforts I see in Australia and New Zealand, the United States and now in Brazil, where I'm seeing a lot of investment decisions made in forests based on carbon being part of the financial package," he said. "And we just have not even got close to that."