support better forest monitoring,
better prediction making, and better
management decision making. And
the more we are learning, the more we
are seeing opportunities for optimizing
and increasing the many benefits that
forests provide Canadians.
The importance of tracking
how and why forests
change
Forests are always changing, and
keeping a close eye on the changes
underway in Canada is a fundamental
part of this country’s commitment to
forest stewardship and sustainable
forest management.
Collecting information at regular
inter vals – about the ex tent of
forest cover, species composition,
disturbances, forest health, and other
factors – gives analysts a means of
identifying trends and patterns
of change, and of understanding
the reasons for and implications of
those changes. This access to greater
k nowledge is enhancing forest
management in so many ways. Our
ability to predict coming changes
is improved, and therefore so is our
capacity to make ever better-informed
operational decisions on the ground.
Remote sensing and data
processing: Powerful tools
in the forest monitoring kit
Remote sensing, the art and science of
observing things from afar, is not new.
Foresters, like other resource managers,
have long used aircraft (like planes
and helicopters) to get pictures of
landscapes from above. Over