Natural resources strategy calls for 50% reduction in clearcutting in 5 years

HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government has finally released the long-awaited Natural Resources Strategy, after several years of public and stakeholder consultations.  The strategy sets direction on how natural resources are to be managed in the province, focusing on forestry, mining, biodiversity, and parks. Among other things, the strategy calls for a 50% reduction in clearcutting in Nova Scotia in five years.

“The Nova Scotia government is taking important steps to reduce clearcutting in this province, “ says Chris Miller, National Conservation Biologist for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), based in Halifax. “For too long, there’s been an over-reliance on clearcutting in Nova Scotia and our forests have suffered as a result”.

The statistics on clearcutting in Nova Scotia are shocking. Upwards of 95% of the forest harvesting undertaken in Nova Scotia is done using clearcuts.  Over the past decade, nearly a half-million hectares of forest have been clearcut in the province.  The clearcuts and roads have badly damaged the landscape, resulting in only 17% of Nova Scotia’s forests being in tracts larger than 500 hectares in size.

An independent assessment released by the Nova Scotia government earlier this year shows that a 50% reduction target for clearcutting can be achieved without significantly impacting the forest industry.  That assessment also factored in a significant expansion of the protected areas system for the provincial government to achieve its legislated commitment of legally protecting at least 12% of the provincial landmass by 2015.

“The independent assessment shows its possible to achieve steep reductions in the amount of clearcutting in Nova Scotia without significant impacts on the forest industry”, says Miller.  “Indeed, failure to move away from outdated forestry practices will only leave the industry more vulnerable in the future, since consumers are increasingly demanding that their wood and paper products come from sustainably managed forests”.

CPAWS remains concerned about the use of biomass for electricity in Nova Scotia.  This practice will not only fail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it will also increase the amount of wood fibre being harvested in the province and make it much harder for the government to achieve its clearcut reduction targets.  The government also appears to be backtracking from a previous commitment to ban whole-tree harvesting in Nova Scotia, saying instead that it will examine the issue further.

The natural resources strategy states that the Nova Scotia government is examining options for implementing an Annual Allowable Cut (AAC), but provides few details on how it is going about this, or indeed, what specific AAC is sustainable for Nova Scotia’s forests.

Many Nova Scotians came out to public meetings held across the province to speak up for Nova Scotia’s forests.  They filled community centres, church halls, and legions to make their voices heard, demanding a change to how forests in Nova Scotia are managed, particularly the problem of clearcutting.

Contact:
Chris Miller, Ph.D.
National Conservation Biologist
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
902-446-4155
cmiller@cpaws.org