Globalization and consumers who want forest-based products but desire their forests to be left untouched are issues the industry will have to wrestle with as it looks to the future, say industry leaders.
About 1,500 forestry industry members heard about some of the challenges facing their profession at the joint annual meeting and convention of the Canadian Institute of Foresters and the Society of American Foresters held last week in Edmonton.
Tom Thompson, deputy chief of the National Forest System, USDA Forest Service, told a luncheon panel discussion at the Shaw Conference Centre that the industry’s ability to meet today’s challenges will play a major role in determining its fate. Those concerns, he said, include restoring health to forests, and handling a culturally diverse world where “people want their two-by-fours and printer paper, but don’t like to see change in their forests.”
New pests and large-scale climate changes also need to be taken under consideration, he added, while tight budgets mean the industry must become more efficient.
Bob Fessenden, deputy minister at Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, told delegates that globalization spells market changes that must be dealt with if forestry is going to continue to play a role in the province’s economy.
He added those changes include adapting to industry consolidation, developing diversified product lines and realizing that Europe is now less of a sales market and more of a supply-side competitor.
“Policy and regulation must be fully aligned with sustainable forest management for better- integrated forest land management,” said Fessenden. “We need to designate some lands for enhanced productivity and we also want more value-added products.”
In Alberta, forestry employs nearly 53,700 people, 24,195 in its primary sector and 29,490 in the secondary sector, and generates $1.6 billion in household income. But in a province with a wealth of forestry resources – forests cover nearly 60 per cent of Alberta or 38 million hectares (94 million acres) – more needs to be done to ensure the industry thrives and remains as a primary industry in at least 45 provincial communities, said Fessenden.
There is also a need for innovation, Fessenden added, saying, “in this country (Canada) there are too many fragmented industry approaches” and not enough collaboration. Fessenden also noted the potential costs of climate change to the industry. “The climate has been warmer in the past 15 years than it has in the past 30 years, and fire protection costs are up,” he said. The mountain pine beetle, already causing great damage to B.C. forests, is also something Alberta has to be ready to handle, he said.
Stephanie Brown, director of field operations for the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), noted that unlike Canada, the majority of U.S.-based forest land is in the hands of more than four million private owners. Only 50,000 of those are part of the ATFS, which promotes the growing of renewable forest resources on private lands while protecting environmental benefits and increasing public understanding of productive forestry.
“There are also fewer foresters in the field, industry downsizing and shifting state priorities to deal with,” she said. Together, the Canadian Institute of Foresters and the Society of American Foresters represent 20,000 practitioners.
