Managing Forests not Forestry: Join the ELC for our Forests Webinar Series in January

Managing Forests not Forestry:

Join the ELC for our Forests Webinar Series in January

Over the past year or so, the ELC has been working on its Managing Forest not Forestry project with the goal of moving the focus of Alberta’s forest laws and policies from regulation of the forest industry to ecosystem-based management (EBM) of our forests.

EBM is a fundamental shift in forest management from a primary focus on sustaining timber supply to recognizing the value of forests as ecosystems. The overarching goal of EBM is to maintain ecological integrity with the specific goals of maintaining viable populations, ecosystem representation, protecting the evolutionary potential of species and ecosystems, and accommodating human use in light of the foregoing goals. This differs from the current forest management approach which is focused on maximizing goods and products for human consumption.

The components of EBM can be distilled into 3 key points:

• The primary goal of management is ecological health and integrity.
• Science based decision-making – including the adoption of adaptive management and the precautionary principle – is crucial.
• Natural ecosystem dynamics should be used as a template for management.

Because humans and our activities are part of the forest ecosystem, EBM also requires meaningful public consultation and participation; indigenous consultation, participation and management; and opportunities for community management. As well, effective monitoring and enforcement tools are important aspects of managing forests.

New Publication coming in 2022

We expect to release our new report Managing Forests not Forestry: Law and Policy Recommendations for Ecosystem-based Management of Alberta’s Forests in the new year.  This report consists of 5 parts:

• Introduces the key components and principles of EBM, and provides a brief overview of Alberta’s forest laws and policies.
• Explores the extent to which key components and principles of EBM are adopted in Alberta’s forest laws and policies.
• Reviews, in more detail, the laws and policies that currently apply to Alberta’s forests.
• Reviews forest laws and policies that apply in select jurisdictions (Montana, Oregon, B.C, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan).
• Summarizes our recommendations to move Alberta toward EBM of its forests.

Webinar series in January 2022

The findings and recommendations from this project will be discussed in a two-part webinar series to be held on January 11^th and 25^th.

Part 1: Overview of Alberta’s Forest Laws and Policies

January 11, 2022 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

The webinar is free to attend, but you must register in advance.

This webinar will provide a brief introduction to the concept of EBM to contextualize our review of Alberta’s forest laws and policies.  This law and policy review will set out the basic legal scheme applicable to Alberta’s forest.  As well, several topics will be discussed in more detail: disposition of crown timber, scaling, forest management planning, reforestation, enforcement, and public consultation.

Part 2: Recommendations for Ecosystem-Based Management

January 25, 2022 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

The webinar is free to attend, but you must register in advance.

This webinar will introduce the key components and principles of EBM and explore the extent to which they are adopted in Alberta’s forest laws and policies.  Topics looked at will include science-based decision-making; various management principles and concepts for using natural ecosystem dynamics as a management template; public consultation and participation; and community forest management.  Recommendations designed for shifting Alberta’s forest laws and policies to an EBM approach will also be discussed.