The all-round support behind a proposed forestry management model is good news for Nova Scotia woodlands.
A 400-hectare demonstration forest is to be established in the Halifax region with the aim of promoting sustainable forest management.
The how and why of wood harvest has seen its share of divided opinion over the years, but this project is uniting a lot of different players, from both industry and the environmental perspective. It’s receiving help from Northern Pulp, the Nova Scotia Woodlot Owners and Operators Association and community and environmental groups, including the Ecology Action Centre.
On a plot of Crown land, the Otter Ponds demonstration forest will be used to promote the practices of uneven-aged forest management in the Acadian forest.
The Nova Scotia government signed the agreement to go ahead with the project. Natural Resources Minister John MacDonell underlines the importance of sustainably managed forest in the announcement: it’s about long-term jobs and, if improved practices become widespread, it means improved quality of life for Nova Scotians and far less strain on wildlife habitat.
Considering the high percentage of woodlot ownership in private hands in the province, the call for better education has long been a hot topic.
Jamie Simpson, forestry program co-ordinator with the Ecology Action Centre, says the forest has the potential to become “an open air classroom for anyone interested in learning and sharing ideas about forestry and ecology.”
Concerns about management of forest tracts in the past have raised the fear of losing that Acadian forest mix versus the prospect of a more plantation style of management.
As with any renewable natural resource, there are right ways, wrong ways and too many grey areas. But one thing we would hope to agree on is that anything but the best management will mean it won’t be there in the future. That should be the best encouragement available.
