Improving Human Wellbeing and Ecosystem Health on BC’s Coast: The Challenge Posed by Historic Resource Extraction (original) (raw)
Related papers
2004
This research examines the Community Forest Pilot Project (CFPP) implemented in british Columbia in 1998. As part of the Forests Statutes Amendment Act (Bill 34), the CFPP is planned to last for five years. Under this program, the government has allocated forest land and managerial autonomy to ten communities. The aims of the CFPP are to increase community involvement in local forest land, "to provide opportunities at the community level to test some new and innovative forest management models" and to maintain "forest-related community lifestyles and values, while providing jobs and revenue that contribute to community stability" (British Columbia, Ministry of Forests, 1999a:l). The key aspect of the program is its focus on community empowerment as reflected in the province's definition of the community forest tenure; "[to] allow communities to manage local forests to meet local economic and social needs" (British Columbia, Ministry of Forests, 2000a:l). 1.1 Context to British Columbia's Community Forest Pilot Project British Columbia's economy largely developed based upon high rates of natural resource exploitation, especially within the forest sector. The forest industry, which is dominated by high volume timber extraction and clear-cut logging, has provided significant returns to the province (Marchak et a/. 1999). The industry, through the forest tenure system, has also provided wealth to many British Columbians, and employment and stability for many workers, at least from the 1940s to the 1970s (Marchak et a/. 1999; Hayter 2000a). Despite the immense wealth generated by the forest sector, its mass exportoriented production has made it and forest-dependent communities vulnerable to the fluctuations of commodity markets thereby producing periods of boom and bust since the 1970s (Robson 1996; Hayter 2000a; Stiven 2000). In addition, the industry has relied on mechanization and automation of logging, which has resulted in fewer jobs and less value per unit of wood cut than in any other industrialized forest economy in the world (Fulton 1998 as cited in Gunter 2000; Marchak et a/. 1999). Lastly, forest-dependent communities in British Columbia are experiencing conditions of uncertainty and vulnerability because of impending resource exhaustion and increasing pressure from environmental groups (Clapp 1998; Markey and Pierce 1999; Hayter 2000a). While there are differing estimates concerning an appropriate annual allowable cut (AAC)', critics of the industry such as M'Gonigle (1 997), Burda (1 999), Marchak et a/. (1 999), and Gunter (2000), contend that forest resources in most of British Columbia have been mismanaged and the AAC in many areas has been set higher than what is ecologically sustainable. However, Hayter (2000) recognizes that in the 1990s, not all of the AAC was consumed for market and cost reasons, despite fears of wood-fibre shortage. Nevertheless, of late, British Columbia's forest sector has been characterized by plant closures, layoffs and corporate losses, leading many to declare a state of crisis in the industry (e.g. Beckley 1998; Marchak et a/. 1999).
Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 2008
It is critical to understand how the public prioritizes multiple forestry values when establishing objectives for sustainable forest management. While this is a complex and difficult task, a necessary step is to elicit a broad range of public opinions in forest planning to ensure that decisions serve the needs of various forest stakeholders and society at large. This study seeks to understand how six forest dependent communities in British Columbia prioritize a number of attributes associated with sustainable forest management by using a simple survey-based measurement tool, the Thurstone scale. The results suggest that ecological attributes are a higher priority for survey respondents followed by quality of life, global warming, and economic considerations. This paper explores some of the ramifications of the priorities for sustainable forest management measured in these six communities as well as implications for using the Thurstone scale in processes like Public Advisory Groups.
Beyond the Economic Model: Assessing Sustainability in Forest Communities
There is a growing interest in both Canada and the United States not only in the sustainability of forests, but also in the ability of forest communities to sustain themselves through fluctuating political and environmental conditions. Interested parties of all stripes are attempting to understand how changes in forest management policies enhance or harm the future of these communities. Although many studies have historically used economic indicators as measures of community stability, more recently researchers have demonstrated that the relationship between a community and its surrounding natural resources goes far beyond economic dependency. Frameworks have emerged that attempt to include factors that more accurately reflect the broader range of socio-political influences on affected locales. For example, the existing set of skills and leadership present in a community, the propensity of residents to work together, and the available physical and natural attributes all contribute to how people might respond to changing conditions. In this chapter we discuss the notion of community from multiple perspectives and examine three conceptual frameworks for assessment: 1) community capacity, 2) community well-being, and 3) community resiliency.
Sustainable management of Canada's boreal forests: Progress and prospects1
Ecoscience, 2006
The last decade of innovation in forest management in Canada is reviewed. Institutions such as the Sustainable Forest Management Network and Canada's Model Forest Program have attempted to develop a better understanding of ecological disturbance patterns and processes. Additional research has explored socio-economic dimensions of sustainable forestry, such as ways to incorporate the aspirations of indigenous peoples, build community capacity, and facilitate forest certification. The most promising innovations tend to have both environmental benefits (sustaining non-timber values) and economic benefits (reducing costs and sustaining future timber values), making their implementation more likely. Some on-theground examples of "win-win" solutions at stand and landscape levels in Canada's boreal forests include: patch retention in conjunction with the creation of large cutblocks; protection of advance regeneration during timber harvesting; promotion and prediction of natural regeneration; various approaches to mixedwood (broadleaf and conifer) management; avoidance of unnecessary brush control; extended rotations and selection management for some tree species and stand types; promoting the flow of fibre to its highest value uses; and zoning in support of intensive silviculture, thereby potentially reducing harvesting pressures from lands with high conservation value. More closely emulating natural patterns of forest disturbance and forest recovery can help sustain biodiversity and ecosystem services, but may not generate all values desired from managed forests. Further research is needed to calibrate indicators of ecological sustainability. Institutional and policy innovation must also be evaluated in the context of adaptive management to improve the effectiveness of forestry practices and nurture the social license for the utilization and management of public forests.
Looking beyond : can the BC community forest program be improved?
2011
The reform of tenure system and establishment of the British Columbia community forest program created new opportunities for communities around the province and seems to be a story of success. In this paper, a comparative study is done between the community forest model in British Columbia and four other jurisdictions (Ontario, Quebec, Mexico and Cameroon). Initially, the evolution and characteristics of community forest in B.C are described, with focus on the regulations that govern the creation and functioning of a Community Forest Agreement. Subsequently, each of other models are described, and compared with the B.C. model. Finally, in the discussion, some constraints, issues and opportunities for improvement of the B.C. model are identified and put forward for examination.
Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 2015
Long-term exploitation of boreal ecosystems often results in a reduced range of ecological conditions that threatens several species. In most boreal jurisdictions, the northern extent of commercial forestry corresponds to economical rather than ecological considerations. Our general objective is to offer guidance for sustainable boreal forest management by using a biodiversity criterion based on three indicators. The first two indicators are part of a coarse filter referring to the proportion and fragmentation of tall, dense forest habitats, whereas a third one uses a fine filter for specific requirements of boreal caribou. We applied the methodology with and without anthropogenic disturbances on 1114 land districts to contrast the preindustrial potential and current capacity of Quebec’s boreal forest to support forest management. Originally, 826 districts (74%) were above the 20% cutoff value for the minimum proportion of tall, dense forest habitats. Among the 567 districts current...
2016
F aced with the task of reviewing several recent books in forest history, I make a preliminary inventory of the stand before me. Not all of these books are focused on British Columbia. Individually and collectively, however, they offer new insights into the past and present of forests and forestry in this province. Yet, in the words of Henry Graves’s 1906 book on forest mensuration, just as forests have value “not merely in the trees standing at any given time, but in their power by growth to produce wood and timber in the future,” so books on forests have value not merely for what they tell us about the specifics of their topic but also to the extent that they encourage us to ponder future uses and management of our forest endowment in the face of pressing concerns about climate change and the economic, social, and ecological sustainability of local, national, and global communities.1 How, I ask, does this thicket of books contribute in this regard? To calibrate and measure these w...