Forest Caucus Report

A Newsletter of the Canadian Environmental Network Forest Caucus

From Global to Local and Back Ecosystem-based Management in Labrador Erika Pittman, Sierra Club du Canada

No matter where you live, people depend upon forests. Our understanding of this varies from place to place, but the truth of it always remains. To try and better understand this relationship on a different scale, I scouted out the 12th World Forestry Congress in downtown Quebec City. One of the theme sessions presented there was of particular interest to me. People from all over the world presented their perspectives on the necessity shift to an ecosystem-based approach to forestry management. What was surprising was that the example of how this approach actually has been put into practice came out my own province, Newfoundland and Labrador. Mr. Larry Innes, with the Innu Nation, spoke to us about the current forestry co-management agreement developed by the Innu of Labrador in partnership with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and local communities.

Now this is a province dependant very heavily upon its natural resources. Poor forestry management practices on the island have resulted in the present wood supply shortage and subsequent push into the mainland forests of Labrador, the last intact ancient boreal forests in eastern North America.

The Innu have lived in Labrador for over 2000 years. Their ancestors occupied the area over 8000 years ago. The protection of this land is of the highest priority, not only for the ecosystem itself, but also for the Innu culture:

“For us, it is always good policy to leave alone what we do not understand. Not only us humans depend upon forests, but all life depends on them. We let things be, and let the forests grow naturally. This is our approach. All your science will not save you if you continue to take away what is there and what keeps us here. I know that everything depends on everything...this is the best science I can give you.”
-Innu Elder Simon Michel

What exists in the forests of central Labrador is really quite unique. The fragile, shallow and nutrient poor soils support very sparsely forested black spruce and balsam fir stands, with limited closed-canopy stands. Here the climate is extreme, with a growing season that is less than 100 days, and cold harsh winters. It is here within central Labrador that forestry co-management has been put into practice. ‘District 19' is an area which comprises 7.1 million hectares, approximately twice the size of Vancouver island.

This area has been relatively free of development pressures up until the 1950's. After an unsuccessful large-scale logging operation to supply the linerboard mill on the island in the 70's and numerous protests against subsequent attempts to re-establish an industry, an agreement was finally reached with government to cap harvesting at 1992 levels.

Meanwhile on an international level the 1992 Rio Declaration, and the adoption of the Rio Forest Principles in the national Forest Accord, significantly changed the global vision for forest management. There was a shift from ‘sustained yield management’ toward ‘sustainable forestry management’. This impacted directly upon Labrador in 1997 when the government adopted an ecosystem-based approach to management. Then in 1998, the National Forest Strategy document recognized the identity, culture and rights of indigenous people, and their important and integral role in forest policy development. This recognition, together with the adoption of the principle of sustainable management, led to the Forest Process Agreement in 2001, developed between the Innu Nation and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. It will eventually be replaced by the Innu Nation’s comprehensive land claim, still under negotiation.

The Forest Process Agreement solidified the implementation of ecosystem-based forest management in Labrador. The Innu Nation Forest Guardian Program and a planning team were created to facilitate the implementation of this process. Community members were hired and trained as “Forest Guardians”, who ensure that ecosystem-based forestry is applied on the ground. Among other things, guardians monitor harvest operations, conduct research, survey proposed harvest blocks, design stand level protected area networks and conduct community consultations. Bi-weekly public workshops and meetings were held throughout central Labrador to look at key issues and management options for the district. These meetings were held in Innu-Aimun and English to ensure that the Innu Nation and the general public could be involved. The topics on the agenda were set by the participants themselves, and issues were then organized under the headings of Ecological, Cultural and Economic. The planning team then incorporated this information into the development of the ecosystem-based management plan. Both the Innu Nation and government officials were represented on the team.

Unlike timber extraction management, this approach looks foremost at what needs to be protected (what to leave), and secondly, at what to use (what to take). Ecosystem health is seen as the basis for sustaining cultures and economies, therefore the first priority is ecological responsibility, second is cultural responsibility and thirdly economic responsibility. To quote the vision statement:

To create an ecosystem-based forest management plan that protects ecological and cultural integrity, productive capacity, resiliency and biodiversity while advancing economic opportunities for the sustainable development of forest-based industries.

Management looks at different spatial scales over the long term in order to protect structures and functions which operate on that level. The Protected Area Network was designed at the landscape level, watershed level and stand level, with attention to maintaining connectivity throughout. At the landscape level unique and representative ecosystem types and habitat for wide-ranging, migratory species such as the threatened Woodland Caribou, are protected. At this level, a Cultural Protected Area Network was also created which incorporates cultural heritage values into the plan, as well as domestic forest harvesting activities, hunting, trapping and gathering, tourism and recreation, landscape aesthetics, traditional travel routes and camp locations.

The watershed level identifies and protects species with smaller ranges, ecologically sensitive areas, steep slopes, isolated and non-commercial forests as well as cultural and recreational use areas. Finally at the stand level site-specific features like plant species, small streams, wildlife dens and bog buffers are accounted for.

Overall, 60% of the planning area (District 19) is reserved to protect both ecological and cultural values. The Annual Allowable Cut figures were the last thing to be determined, and they are currently half that of ‘conventional’ planning estimates.

This is not, of course, a perfect process. There are always challenges and concerns that exist. However this open, transparent, public participation process has created a management plan with an environmental standard that will be a model for the rest of the province, the country and the world. This is a management plan that takes a precautionary approach to forestry. Because before we can talk about timber, we need to talk about culture; we need to talk about all that sustains us.