Carbon Offset Opportunity Mapping
Overview
March 2, 2011
Background:
Carbon offset opportunity mapping was developed based on MPB impact and opportunity mapping and
is therefore an additional set of mapping products to be used in conjunction with the other MPB related
information that is available. This information is intended to be used at a strategic level when assessing
which areas within a management unit might have moderate, high or very high potential for the
application of carbon offsets as part of site rehabilitation and silviculture activities. These maps are not
intended to replace on-the-ground verification but should provide end users with approximate locations
of the areas with the highest potential to save some search time and costs. Forest resource managers
should only use this information as one step in the process to verify where the optimal opportunities for
applying carbon offsets are to be found in any given management unit.
Description:
The map identifies potential opportunities for carbon offset through reforestation within the
management unit. Areas identified as having ‘very high’ opportunity for harvesting have been removed
from the map, as they represent potentially economically viable stands. The reforestation opportunities
are based on a scoring system that assigns a relative ranking based on the following parameters:








Timber harvest – Recently harvested areas, as identified in the VRI and from satellite imagery,
represent poor opportunities for carbon offsets as they would already have reforestation and
silviculture obligations under existing legislation.
Attack severity – Sites are assigned to one of four classes ranging from very severe, severe,
moderate to light. More severely attacked areas receive a higher opportunity rating. Stands not
subject to attack are not considered to provide opportunities.
Attack status – Sites are assigned to one of four attack status classes: red, new grey, old grey
and no attack. The older the attack status (e.g., old grey), the higher the carbon offset
opportunity.
Site accessibility – Sites are assigned to one of four classes based on their proximity to roads (0 –
1 km, >1 – 5 km, >5 – 10 km, or >10 km). More accessible sites (i.e., closer to roads) receive a
higher opportunity rating.
Slope – Sites are assigned to one of three slope classes (0 – 30%, >30 –60% or >60%). Areas of
lower slope offer more opportunity because they are easier to access than steep locations.
Site productivity – Sites are assigned to one of six classes ranging from low to high productivity.
Areas with higher site productivity receive higher ratings as they offer a greater opportunity for
successful reforestation than less productive areas.
Pine Age Class – Sites are assigned to one of three age classes: recently harvested (0-20 years),
young and immature (21-60 years), and mature stands (>60 years). Young and immature stands
receive higher ratings as a high importance is placed on re-establishing these decimated stands
within the timber harvesting land base.
Moisture Regime – Sites are assigned to one of five moisture regime classes based on relative
precipitation classes in biogeoclimatic zones: very dry, dry, moist, wet and very wet. Wetter

areas receive higher ratings as it is assumed that existing impacted trees will deteriorate more
rapidly in these conditions.
Cycle Time – Sites are assigned to one of four cycle time classes based on their proximity to a
point of appraisal (0-3 hours, 3.1-5 hours, 5.1-7 hours, or >7 hours). Sites closer to the point of
appraisal receive higher scores as they offer a greater opportunity for higher return on
investment than more remote stands.
In addition, areas are assessed as moderate, high or very high at two defined thresholds:
1. At 50 percent and greater pine and 50 percent and greater MPB attack and
2. At 70 percent and greater pine and 50 percent and greater MPB attack.
A typical high opportunity site would be a severely attacked old grey site, on a low slope, within 1 km of
a road, with high site productivity, young or immature age class, wet regime, within three hours of a
point of appraisal. Low and very low carbon offset opportunities are not assessed in this process. The
mapping is available for 22 management units in the northern and southern interior based on level of
MPB impact. Because of the number of constraints used to determine if there are potential carbon
offset opportunities, a number of management units show very small total areas for the potential
application of these opportunities: Arrow, Boundary, Bulkley, Cranbrook, Dawson Creek, Golden,
Invermere, Kootenay Lake, MacKenzie, and Okanagan.
The maps are available as PDF format plot files from this website or as raw GIS data for each
management unit upon request. Any future updates of this information are dependent upon budget
availability as well as user feedback.
Contacts:
Please send any questions or provide any comments you may have to:
Graham Hawkins,
Ministry of Forests, Mines and Lands,
Forest Analysis and Inventory Branch
PO Box 9512, Stn Prov Govt
7'th Floor 727 Fisgard Street
Victoria, B.C.
V8W 9C2
Ph – 250-387-8893
FAX – 250-387-5999
Graham.Hawkins@gov.bc.ca