Dear Kirsten,…

Dear Kirsten,

RE: EBR Registry Number: 012-8685

Quinte Field Naturalists are concerned that the Ontario Government’s discussion paper, “Opportunities to Enhance Carbon Storage”, does not address all of the factors that should have been considered and that it is premature for the Government to seek broad public input on whether Government-led and/or market-led “initiatives should be used in an attempt to increase the ability of our forests to sequester carbon.

Our organization is committed to the care of the environment and we are very concerned that the discussion paper does not address the effects of climate change on forests. Our forests provide homes for many species of wildlife that depend upon this habitat to survive. Many species of plants and animals, such as the Woodland Caribou, will have difficulty adjusting to climate change. The majority of plant species can migrate at only 1/10th the needed speed to match climate change. This is particularly significant as the most rapid temperature increases are expected to occur north of 40 degrees latitude. Forest management strategy must be designed to protect all the species dependent on the forest.

Quinte Field Naturalists are concerned that tailoring forest management strategy to maximize timber yield is detrimental, as it is based on the economic model of continuing and ever-increasing consumption of forest products while it does not consider the effects of climate change on our forest ecosystems. Climate change models predict a decrease in the area covered by the Boreal Forest!

As an organization committed to developing a deep understanding of our environment, Quinte Field Naturalists are concerned about the Government’s contention that forest cutting can reduce the forest’s potential to become a carbon source. This conception is based on the Government’s simplistic view of the life cycle of unmanaged forest. Forests have been effective carbon sinks for millions of years before humans came along to manage them. Ironically, the Government is simultaneously proposing that the crown forests can be used as offsets in a cap and trade system.

Quinte Field Naturalists strongly urge the Government to re-visit this discussion paper and to revise the forest management strategy so that the forest and all of its component species are protected, as much as possible, from over-consumption and climate change. We need forest products but we also need the forest!

Sincerely,

George W. Thomson

QFN President

[Original Comment ID: 207804]