Ninety of Canada's top climate scientists and forest researchers urging protection for old-growth trees

Ninety of Canada's top climate scientists and forest researchers have written to the federal government urging protection for old-growth trees.

A federal plan setting greenhouse gas emission reductions is expected to be announced soon and the scientists say ancient timber stands must be protected.

They say old-growth trees store about 50 per cent more carbon than younger trees but old-growth is being harvested too quickly, releasing greenhouse gases and making forests less able to withstand wildfires.

The letter also calls on federal watchdogs to do more to calculate the greenhouse gases released by the forest industry.