Improving timber growth and finding ways to battle the mountain pine beetle are among the programs the province plans to fund through its Forest Science Program.
Roughly $16.1 million will be spent in 2007-2008 on 267 research projects led by university researchers, the provincial and federal governments, First Nations, corporations and non-profit organizations.
Approximately $4.5 million will be spent on 92 projects that include improving sustainable forest management, targets and monitoring systems. Another $3.4 million has been earmarked to improve tree growth, silviculture systems and determine climate change's impact on B.C.'s forests.
More than $2.1 million will be spent on 37 mountain pine beetle projects ranging from the infestation's impact on wildlife habitat to forest growth and salvage harvesting.