Briefing Note: Community Forestry in Canada lobal economic instability, the need for local isolation and limited access to services and G adaptation to climate change impacts, and economic opportunities can make them vulnerable Supreme Court rulings over Aboriginal and to large-scale disturbances (i.e., economic Treaty Rights have drawn attention to community downturns, climate change). Many communities are dissatisfaction with centralized approaches to concerned with the environmental impacts of natural resource management. Communities industrial forest development in their region.3 across Canada seek opportunities for increased control over and benefits from Across Canada, interest in community natural resources. involvement in the forestry sector has been growing over the past decade. Community Community forests offer local forest forests are not new to Canada, and viable examples management opportunities. They support social, date back many decades in some provinces, such as environmental, and economic sustainability through: Agreement Forests in Ontario (1920s), forestry a) local decision-making, b) local economic cooperatives in Quebec (1940) and municipal resilience and benefit sharing opportunities, and c) forests in British Columbia (1950s).4 sustainable forest uses. This brief outlines diverse forms of community forests in Canada, and offers The National Aboriginal Forestry Association recommendations to increase local benefits through measured a steady rise in timber volume harvested community forests. by Aboriginal interests since 2003. While many community forests can be found in British Why does local forest Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec, over 116 community forests have been documented across management matter? 5 the country. The British Columbia Community Almost half of Canada’s land base is forested and Forest Association grew from 10 in 2002 to over 50 the vast majority of forestland is publically owned.1 in 2015.6 There is increasing interest in heightening However, provincial government and industry community involvement in the forestry sector, and interests dominate Canada’s forest sector, and it is thus timely for decision-makers to formally these decision-making systems tend to serve the address the changing culture of forest management interests of a few key stakeholders. in Canada.7 “There are increasing perceptions in Canada 8 that provincial forest tenure systems no longer Forest Tenure Volume Allocated to First Nation Interests, 2013 provide the economic and social benefits they 45 were designed to deliver and that they may be 40 a root cause of the many serious problems 35 that increasingly beset the forest sector.” 30 Haley & Nelson, 20073 25 Has the time come to rethink Canada’s Crown 20 forest tenure systems?, pg. 630 15 10 The current system often excludes 5 0 communities from resource decision-making of% TotalProvincial Allocation and benefits,2 restricting local capacity. For many resource-dependent communities, geographic Region What are community forests? • Capacity building: opportunities for formal A community forest is a forest operation organized training, work experience, and skill and run at the local-level and based on community development; values. Community forests take many forms, such • Employment: continued employment of as: partnerships, corporations, societies, First existing personnel and/or the creation of new Nations, municipalities, and co-operative positions within the community through associations. forestry operations as well as tourism and/or non-timber forest harvesting; Community forests often focus on objectives • Profit: revenue generation and recirculation beyond timber harvesting, such as the management within the larger community; of the greater watershed or landscape. Many • Conflict avoidance: resolve previous or community forests also include local processing and impending conflict over resource access and marketing initiatives for increased local employment use; and revenue. Other opportunities for economic • Sociocultural benefits: manage for local resilience include diversification through non-timber values and conduct cultural resource inventories forest products, recreation, and educational or traditional knowledge studies; activities. As the number of community forests • Environmental sustainability: local across Canada increases, the economic viability of stewardship and ecologically sensitive forestry these endeavours increases. practices that take into consideration multiple timber and non-timber values; • Economic resilience: develops community self-reliance on local employment and forest use, and provides opportunities for a diversified economy. Increasing community involvement in forestry is outlined as a priority in Canada’s National Forest Strategy (2008). Multiple provincial strategies and community plans also identify desires to strengthen the role of communities in decision-making and forest-related benefits. Benefits and Impacts Based on local priorities, community forests can address many needs and produce benefits:9 “After a long period of exclusion, Aboriginal • Resource access: parties can access wood peoples are seeking an enhanced role in fiber supplies that would not otherwise have natural resource management especially on been available; the forested lands within their traditional • Long-term resource management: territories.” National Aboriginal Forestry Association, 2010 investment in the care and sustainable use of Framework for Aboriginal Capacity-Building in the forestland, particularly in areas that hold local Forest Sector, pg. 2 significance for ecological or social reasons; British Columbia: “The Province uses Examples of community forests in Canada new types of tenure to support communities, First Nations and other smaller operators to increase their British Columbia participation in the forest sector, generate Burns Lake Community Forest more benefits from smaller parcels of forest Corporation (Est. 1998) land, and further diversify the industry.” Ontario Tenure: Community Forest Tenure (Our Natural Advantage Forest Sector White Feather Forest Initiative (Est. License holder: Municipally Strategy for British Columbia, 2012, pg 21) 1998) (Corporation of the Village of Burns Tenure: Sustainable Forest License Lake) owned limited company Saskatchewan: “New products such as (SFL) (Comfor Management Services Ltd.). dissolving pulp from the Prince Albert mill, License holder: Whitefeather Forest Hectares: 89,109 and new First Nations and Métis Community Resource Management Quebec partnerships across the north offer Authority, non-profit corporation Matane Regional County Municipality opportunities for northerners and northern Hectares: 436,582 (Est. 1999) Tenure: Territorial Management communities.” (Saskatchewan Plan for Agreement Growth, 2012, pg 24) License holder: Regional municipality Hectares: 13,000 Ontario: “The composition, structure, and governance of Enhanced Sustainable Forest License (ESFL) companies will be flexible, addressing local circumstances and interests including: local First Nations and Métis communities, local communities, local forest industry.” (Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry: Forest Tenure Modernization, 2014) Quebec: “Regionalization allows local and regional stakeholders to play an active role in developing their land base. Local and Aboriginal communities can make their forest-related concerns, values, and needs known more directly.” (Sustainable Forest Management Strategy, 2015, pg 9) Nova Scotia: “Community groups and Saskatchewan Nova Scotia other interested groups have called on the Mistik Management Ltd. (Est. 1998) government to revise the current ways of Tenure: Forest Management License Medway Community Forest Cooperative (Est. 2015) distributing timber licences and other rights Agreement (FMLA) to provincially owned forest License holder: Mistik Management Tenure: Forest Utilization License Agreements (FULA) resources…The department will work with Ltd. (jointly owned by Millar Western interested groups to develop and test these Pulp Ltd. And NorSask Forest License holder: co-operative with a registered office at Kempt, Queens approaches.” (The Path We Share: A Products Inc.) Natural Resource Strategy for Nova Scotia Hectares: 1,900,000 County Hectares: 15,000 2011-2020, pg 39) Recommendations Re-design legal frameworks to ensure all Encourage training and education among those provincial and territorial forest acts contain with an interest in increasing community specific language enabling local control and involvement to be tomorrow’s leaders. New post- community tenures. Meaningful increases in local secondary and school curricula, as well as participation and involvement in forestry are not professional development events, can be established supported within the current legislative framework to support local forest management and businesses. in most provinces and territories. Many forest acts There is a need to create the professional work include a clause to accommodate community access force and culture of innovation needed to support to forest resources, however, there is a need to community forestry. clarify and strengthen the law to enable increased local-level engagement. Fund innovative programs and strategies such as new models of forest tenure for increased community involvement. New programs could include the redistribution and reorganization of tenure rights and AAC allocations for non-industry interests, as well as the establishment of new partnerships, ensuring