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The decline of the Canadian Christmas tree farm

The Big Story
The Big Story
Episode • Dec 20, 2022 • 20m

Christmas trees won't vanish in this country, but the people who farm them are facing some tough decisions in the coming years. As the climate changes, trees grown apart, in neat little rows, simply can't take it as well as trees that make up a natural forest. As this worsens, the cost of farmed trees will continue to rise, and farmers may have to look at non-native species.

How does the tree farm industry work? Where does your perfect little triangle tree come from and why is it so difficult to grow? And ten years from now will more Canadians be heading out to the woods with axes, as our grandparents might have done?

GUEST: Richard Hamelin, head of Forest Conservation Sciences at the University of British Columbia

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The Big Story • The decline of the Canadian Christmas tree farm • Listen on Fountain