[Sust-mar] Clearcutting Takes Heavy Toll: Chronicle Herald

[Laura Simms]

Hi all,

We're the lead story in the herald today (June 25).  Online comments posted
below the article are interesting, and overwhelmingly supportive.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1128994.html
 *
**Clearcutting takes heavy toll*
Report: Province lost 12% of its forest — 665,000 hectares — in last 17
years
By HEATHER AMOS
Thu. Jun 25 - 4:46 AM

Forests in parts of Nova Scotia are being cut down at a rate that is about
twice as high as in other parts of Canada, including Northern Ontario and
inland British Columbia, a new report says.

In 17 years, the province lost 12 per cent of its forest, an area the size
of Inverness and Victoria counties combined — about 665,000 hectares.

Global Forest Watch Canada, a non-governmental group from Alberta, will
release a report today that compared Nova Scotia’s forested areas to what
they were like 17 years ago.

The group conducted this study after the Canadian Parks and Wilderness
Society approached it a year and a half ago saying there was a need for
forestry research in Nova Scotia.

"I actually got a call halfway through the analysis asking if these results
were real because they couldn’t believe it," said Chris Miller, national
manager with the society.

Mr. Miller is hoping that the findings are used in the provincial Natural
Resources Department’s strategy, due for completion next March. This
strategy will change some of the province’s policies that affect major
natural resources: minerals, forests, biodiversity and parks.

"The amount of harvesting and clearcutting that’s happening in Nova Scotia
right now is devastating our forests," said Mr. Miller. "Establish more
protected areas . . . and (put) in stronger regulations to control the
amount of clearcutting — those are the two single most important things that
this government needs to be doing and (it needs) to do that this year."

The report shows that Nova Scotia’s forests used to be older and more
contiguous but now are fragmented and younger.

"We’re losing the undisturbed forest which certain species require and the
only way we have to maintain it is through protected areas," said Ryan
Cheng, with Global Watch Force Canada, who worked on the province’s report.

For Mr. Cheng, the most dramatic finding was that 12 per cent of the
province’s forests have been cleared in 17 years.

Mr. Miller said forests are important because they provide clean air, clean
water and a habitat for wildlife and they retain carbon, which is essential
as the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere rises.

The study compared satellite images from 1990 to images from 2007. The
researchers were able to compare the changes caused by forestry in
one-square-kilometre sections and came up with a map of the province
speckled with yellow, orange and red. Yellow meant the forest had changed
the least, less than 10 per cent. Red meant that the forest had changed the
most, more than 75 per cent.

Central Nova Scotia — Colchester, Halifax, Cumberland, Pictou and Hants
counties — had the most red. This means there’s been a lot of clearcutting
in those areas.

"It’s a problem because it’s the main way we do forest harvesting in Nova
Scotia . . . and that’s not sustainable in the long term," said Mr. Miller.

Mr. Miller’s organization thinks the industry is very important to the
economy but forestry practices must change.

"Forestry needs to be sustainable over the long term so we’re not in this
perpetual boom-and-bust cycle where rural communities become dependent on
resources, which then get used up, and then the rural economies suffer as a
result," he said.

Many lands have gone from forest to clearcut in the last 15 years. Mr.
Miller worries that these lands will now be developed if forestry companies
get into financial trouble and need to sell their land.

In April, J.D. Irving put nearly 69,000 hectares of its land on the market.
The Nova Scotia government put a bid on a portion of the land but hasn’t
heard anything since then.

The last government made a commitment to protect 12 per cent of Nova
Scotia’s land mass by 2015. The new minister of natural resources, John
MacDonell, said his NDP government also supports that commitment and would
like to exceed the 12 per cent if possible.

Mr. Cheng noted that there was significant difference between what’s
happened to forests on Crown land compared with private land.

"We found that on private land the amount of change is . . . double that
found on Crown land."

Mr. MacDonell confirmed that both he and those involved in the natural
resources strategy would be seeing the Global Forest Watch report.

The strategy is in its second phase. During the first phase, the department
collected citizen concerns about natural resources.

"Most of the views were related to the impact that clearcutting has on
overall forest and ecosystem health," said Mr. MacDonell. "I would
definitely be looking at . . . the strategy, when it comes out, and what’s
in the Global Forest Watch report as offering anything that might help us
move away from the amount of clearcutting that we do."

Mr. MacDonell said people were also concerned about how changing forests
will affect tourism. Mr. Miller also thinks forests are important for
tourism.

The Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia reports that tourism
generates as much economic activity as forestry, agriculture and fishing
combined.

The full report will be available at www.globalforestwatch.ca. For more
information about the natural resources strategy, visit www.gov.ns.ca/natr.

( hamos at herald.ca)


---
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society,
Nova Scotia Chapter (CPAWS-NS)

1099 Marginal Road, Suite 201
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4P7
Ph: (902) 446-4155
www.cpawsns.org

Are you a CPAWS supporter? Find out how you can join, renew your membership,
or make a donation. Visit www.cpaws.org/donate today!