Thank you for listening to…

Thank you for listening to the voices of Ontario’s forest communities to ensure that future generations will continue to work in our forests while also being able to enjoy the many ecological, social and recreational benefits that they provide.

Since 1992, the Eastern Ontario Model Forest has played a key role in bringing together governments, landowners, forest industry, First Nations, non-government organizations and others to develop new ways to sustain and manage our forests. In addition to various outreach and programs around education and knowledge exchange, we have a Forest Certification Program that offers private forest owners access to an affordable, supportive and effective system to ensure sustainable forest management practices. Under an FSC® Group Certificate, we manage the certification for over 75,000 ha of private land across southern and eastern Ontario including: community forests (municipal, county and Conservation Authorities); industrial forests; private woodlots; and maple syrup operations.

While the total area of private forests (6.1 M ha) is just under a quarter of the size of managed Crown Forests (27.7 M ha), these forests only produce 5% of the wood supply feeding Ontario wood processing facilities. Like Crown lands, private forests hold large quantities of underutilized wood, and there is significant potential to grow economic opportunities while maintaining healthy forests for future generations. Furthermore, private forests south of the Area of Undertaking (AOU) are located close to urban areas where the majority of Ontarians live. Many of these forests, some under our Certification program, provide for excellent educational opportunities to urban centres to enhance recognition of Ontario’s sustainable forest management practices as they provide a local wood supply as well as recreation opportunities (hiking, biking, bird watching, skiing, hunting, snowmobiling, etc). And, since these forests are, for the most part, located in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Region, selection harvest is the most common form of silviculture – the one most widely accepted by the general public. Private managed forests in the south provide a perfect opportunity to tell urban dwellers the good stories regarding our sustainable forestry practices.

Because private forests south of the AOU hold such a great importance in the overall picture of Ontario forests, we believe they should be better recognized in our Forest Strategy. Specifically, we have the following recommendations we hope will be incorporated into the Forest Strategy:

1) The Forest Strategy Advisory Committee should include representatives from private land forest management. These should include representatives from community forests, private industrial forests and private woodlot owners.
2) The enhanced forest inventory should include all forests south of the AOU.
3) The provincial wood utilization strategy should include private forests with an emphasis on community forests.
4) Ensure long term leadership and support of the Provincial Tree Marking Program. This program has been recognized as a world class initiative at promoting sustainable forest management. It requires investment for it to be effective so professional tree markers are available to provide the quality wood fibre to our forest industry.

By ensuring that private forests south of the AOU are well addressed in the Forest Strategy will spur innovation and create jobs while also helping to tell the story of a local, sustainable wood source for the people of Ontario.