Sustainable Forestry

The forestry sector is poised to undergo significant transformation in operations, mandate and product lines. There is an increasingly urgent call for transformation, and a growing recognition that the old industrial model focused on extracting the highest timber yield from forests is no longer appropriate. Sustainable forest management, corporate social responsibility, and sustainable production practices are moving front and centre. Stakeholders are now looking in a new direction: away from a narrow focus on timber and pulp & paper, and towards a larger perspective that sees our forests as the source of an incredible diverse collection of renewable resources. With considerable endowments in industry, public sector research, academia, applied technical knowledge and a strong natural resource base, the Corner Brook region has a foundation upon to foster a significant contribution to the development of Canada’s sustainable forestry sector.

Greater attention is now being directed to the many benefits that forests offer: local jobs, economic wealth, aesthetics, recreation, tourism, and, perhaps most important are the ecosystem services that support environmental health and all human activity. Interest is growing across the country, and globally, in the potential of non-timber forest products (NTFP) to help diversify and add value to the range of products and services available from forests. This sector is recognized as a significant vehicle for economic development, although it remains an area that is poorly understood and is in need of research, knowledge and practice. The CEE has an excellent opportunity to develop a suite of products, services and expertise, and to establish a regionally and nationally recognized standing in the NTFP field.

Current dialogue in the forestry sector is also characterized by a growing interest in the prospect of creating a bio-economy, which is emerging as the next step beyond a fossil fuel based economy. The bio-economy aims to take advantage of Canada’s enormous biomass resources for use as cleaner and renewable feedstocks for industry, energy generation, and product development, all the while maintaining healthy and sustainable ecological functions. The bio-economy will support a host of bio-industries, such as biochemicals, biofuels, biotechnology and bioplastics. Drawing on the impressive convergence of forestry partners, the CEE is strategically positioned to lead the province in bio-industry development.

A sustainable forestry pillar will capitalize on the region’s natural assets and position researchers and businesses to become leaders in emerging niches. Furthermore, activities under a sustainable forestry pillar stand to strengthen the success of activities in the sustainable tourism pillar. For instance, research in ecosystem services and environmental economics can yield new models for valuing competing uses (like timber harvesting, recreation and tourism), and finding new approaches to integrating such differing values into sustainable natural resource management. Cross-cutting research and private sector activities will allow for greater benefits to accrue from investments in both of these pillars. The multiple dimensions of the sustainable forestry pillar will allow the CEE to respond to large-scale changes in the forestry and environmental sectors, and address current and future market demands.