Forests
Forests are incredibly complex ecosystems that are an integral part of our human landscape, culturally, spiritually and economically. They are also home to a vast diversity of wildlife-- of the estimated 140,000 species in Canada; approximately two-thirds are thought to occur in forests.
Although 94% of our forests are publicly owned, the vast majority of commercially viable crown forest land in Canada is licensed to industry. Forestry policy varies from province to province to territory, but industrial forestry traditionally manages forests to maximize the amount of wood coming out of a management unit, and doesn’t pay enough attention to leaving behind old trees, a diversity of species composition, and healthy wildlife populations to ensure that ecosystem functioning is maintained for the long term.
Progressive forestry practices (often motivated by community management policies and/or the processes and guidelines of the Forest Stewardship Council’s certification standards) are moving towards ecosystem-based management, which places maintaining forest structure, composition and function as a management priority, and ensures that resource extraction, through diverse initiatives, operates within these ecological limits.
Traditional industrial forestry has often affected local and Aboriginal communities in detrimental ways, by creating undiversified and volatile economies and by impairing habitat and wildlife populations (which undermines Aboriginal rights to hunt, trap and fish on crown land.) Further, the financial benefits of logging have often been distributed inequitably, benefiting company shareholders and CEOs as opposed to the Aboriginal and local communities who are directly affected by logging practices. Finally, affected local and Aboriginal communities have, to a large extent, been excluded from meaningful participation opportunities in forest management planning processes.
Some of these trends are starting to change. Sierra Club Canada works to promote the meaningful inclusion of local and Aboriginal communities in forest management planning processes, and champions the reallocation of industrial tenure to Aboriginal and local communities, in the form of community forests. We also work to improve forest management practices to better protect biodiversity. We recognize that forest biodiversity is under threat across Canada, and work hard to protect our forests and the wildlife that lives within them while supporting sustainable, community-based economies.
