Community Forestry in Canada


Book Description

In recent decades, community forestry has taken root across Canada. Locally run initiatives are lauded as welcome alternatives to large corporate and industrial logging practices, yet little research has been done to document their tangible outcomes or draw connections between their ideals of local control, community benefit, ecological stewardship, and economic diversification and the realities of community forestry practice. This book brings together the work of over twenty-five researchers to provide the first comparative and empirically rich portrait of community forestry policy and practice in Canada. Tackling all of the forestry regions from Newfoundland to British Columbia, it unearths the history of community forestry, revealing surprising regional differences linked to patterns of policy-making and cultural traditions. Case studies celebrate innovative practices in governance and ecological management while uncovering challenges related to government support and market access. The future of the sector is also considered, including the role of institutional reform, multiscale networks, and adaptive management strategies.




The Economic Theory of Community Forestry


Book Description

Community forestry is an expanding model of forest management around the world. Over a quarter of forests in developing countries are now owned by or assigned to communities and there is a growing community forestry movement in developed countries such as Canada and the USA. There is, however, no economic theory of community forestry and no systematic treatment of the potential economic advantages of promoting Community forestry in developed countries. As a result much of the policy debate over forest management and forest tenure rests on confused and often erroneous views held by policy makers and encouraged by the dominant forestry industry. The Economic Theory of Community Forestry aims to address this gap and provides the tools for understanding community forestry movement as an alternative form of ownership that can mobilize community resources and encourage innovation. It uses a wide range of economic principles to show how community forestry can be economically superior to conventional forestry; provides examples from Canadian practice; and discusses the regulatory regime that policy makers must put in place to benefit from community forestry. This book will be of interest to policy makers, activists, community forestry managers and members, foresters and forestry students.




Growing Community Forests


Book Description

Canada is experiencing an unparalleled crisis involving forests and communities across the country. While municipalities, policy makers, and industry leaders acknowledge common challenges such as an overdependence on US markets, rising energy costs, and lack of diversification, no common set of solutions has been developed and implemented. Ongoing and at times contentious public debate has revealed an appetite and need for a fundamental rethinking of the relationships that link our communities, governments, industrial partners, and forests towards a more sustainable future. The creation of community forests is one path that promises to build resilience in forest communities and ecosystems. This model provides local control over common forest lands in order to activate resource development opportunities, benefits, and social responsibilities. Implementing community forestry in practice has proven to be a complex task, however: there are no road maps or well-developed and widely-tested models for community forestry in Canada. But in settings where community forests have taken hold, there is a rich and growing body of experience to draw on. The contributors to Growing Community Forests include leading researchers, practitioners, Indigenous representatives, government representatives, local advocates, and students who are actively engaged in sharing experiences, resources, and tools of significance to forest resource communities, policy makers and industry.




Routledge Handbook of Community Forestry


Book Description

This handbook provides a comprehensive overview and cutting-edge assessment of community forestry. Containing contributions from academics, practitioners, and professionals, the Routledge Handbook of Community Forestry presents a truly global overview with case studies drawn from across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The Handbook begins with an overview of the chapters and a discussion of the concept of community forestry and the key issues. Topics as wide-ranging as Indigenous forestry, conservation and ecosystem management, relationships with industrial forestry, trade and supply systems, land tenure and land grabbing, and climate change are addressed. The Handbook also focuses on governance, looking at the range of approaches employed, including multi-level governance and rights-based approaches, and the principal actors involved from local communities and Indigenous Peoples to governments and national and international non-governmental organisations. The Handbook reveals the importance of the historical context to community forestry and the effects of power and politics. Importantly, the Handbook not only focuses on successful examples of community forestry, but also addresses failures in order to highlight the key challenges we are still facing and potential solutions. The Routledge Handbook of Community Forestry is essential reading for academics, professionals, and practitioners interested in forestry, natural resource management, conservation, and sustainable development.




Aboriginal Peoples and Forest Lands in Canada


Book Description

Aboriginal people in Canada have long struggled to regain control over their traditional forest lands. There have been significant gains in the quest for Aboriginal self-determination over the past few decades, including the historic signing of the Nisga’a Treaty in 1998. Aboriginal participation in resource management is on the rise in both British Columbia and other Canadian provinces, with some Aboriginal communities starting their own forestry companies. Aboriginal Peoples and Forest Lands in Canada brings together the diverse perspectives of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal scholars to address the political, cultural, environmental, and economic implications of forest use. This book discusses the need for professionals working in forestry and conservation to understand the context of Aboriginal participation in resource management. It also addresses the importance of considering traditional knowledge and traditional land use and examines the development of co-management initiatives and joint ventures between government, forestry companies, and native communities.




Life in a Forestry Community


Book Description

Trees were one of the first natural resources used by man. In North American, most native and early European settlements were set up near forests from where wood was harvested for firewood, building homes and boats, and for fortifying villages. Western Canada had, and continues to have, huge coniferous forests. McKenzie in British Columbia, Canada, is a community based on timber mills, timber supply and tourism. It has a population of 5,450 people.




Community Forestry


Book Description

An incisive examination of community forestry in a pan-national context, highlighting both the possibilities and challenges associated with its implementation.




The Tree Farm


Book Description

The Mission Municipal Forest, in the Fraser Valley of southern British Columbia, is the first and oldest continually operating community forest in Canada. Its resilience and success helped paved the way for the community forestry model in BC. Operating under BC Tree Farm Licence #26, these 10,000 hectares of cedar, hemlock, and fir forest straddle the lower reaches of Stave Lake, a scenic area of historical and economic significance to First Nations, the province, industry, and the wider Mission community. This book captures the history of the municipal forest, known as The Tree Farm, and demonstrates why locally managed forests can innovate and generate a diversity of benefits for surrounding communities. The Tree Farm describes the trials and opportunities in the Mission Municipal Forest, including fire management, fluctuating log prices, surging numbers of visitors, and the need to take steps towards reconciliation. Fully illustrated with contemporary and archival photos and maps, The Tree Farm is a perfect way to commemorate this innovative forestry model and chart a path forward.




Growing Community Forests


Book Description

Canada is experiencing an unparalleled crisis involving forests and communities across the country. While municipalities, policy makers, and industry leaders acknowledge common challenges such as an overdependence on US markets, rising energy costs, and lack of diversification, no common set of solutions has been developed and implemented. Ongoing and at times contentious public debate has revealed an appetite and need for a fundamental rethinking of the relationships that link our communities, governments, industrial partners, and forests towards a more sustainable future. The creation of community forests is one path that promises to build resilience in forest communities and ecosystems. This model provides local control over common forest lands in order to activate resource development opportunities, benefits, and social responsibilities. Implementing community forestry in practice has proven to be a complex task, however: there are no road maps or well-developed and widely-tested models for community forestry in Canada. But in settings where community forests have taken hold, there is a rich and growing body of experience to draw on. The contributors to Growing Community Forests include leading researchers, practitioners, Indigenous representatives, government representatives, local advocates, and students who are actively engaged in sharing experiences, resources, and tools of significance to forest resource communities, policy makers, and industry.




Community Forestry


Book Description

Providing a critical and incisive examination of community forestry, this is a detailed study of complex issues in local forest governance, community sustainability and grassroots environmentalism. It explores community forestry as an alternative form of local collaborative governance in globally significant developed forest regions, with examples ranging from the Gulf Islands of British Columbia to Scandinavia. Responding to the global trend in devolution of control over forest resources and the ever-increasing need for more sustainable approaches to forest governance, the book highlights both the possibilities and challenges associated with community forestry implementation. It features compelling case studies and accounts from those directly involved with community forestry efforts, providing unique insight into the underlying social processes, issues, events and perceptions. It will equip students, researchers and practitioners with a deep understanding of both the evolution and management of community forestry in a pan-national context.