Woody biomass contributes about 6% of total energy production in Canada. One obstacle to the adoption of woody biomass for energy production is accurate data on sustainable supply. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the assessment of woody biomass annually available for bioenergy production. The study area, located in northwestern Ontario, includes 18 forest management units (167 184 km2) and three existing and one proposed biomass-based power generating stations, with a potential annual demand of 2.2 million green tonnes (gt). First, pre- and post-harvest inventories were carried out to assess the availability of harvest residues. Second, two spatial database layers (land-use class and forest depletion) were developed. The pre- and post-harvest inventory data were combined with spatial data analysis to estimate woody biomass in each square kilometre of the study area. It was estimated that annually there was more than 2.1 million gt of forest harvest residue and 7.6 million gt of underutilized woody biomass technically available between 2002 and 2009 for bioenergy production, with an average annual forest depletion rate of 60 867 ha, 0.6% of the total productive forest area. The study provides a tool for assessing the sustainable availability of woody biomass feedstock for power generation.
Intensive forest management for wood production requires that we identify our most productive forest lands as well as the most productive and most commercially valuable tree species that should be managed on these lands. The Thunder Bay Spacing Trial established in 1950 provides growth and yield comparisons on a productive site for red pine, white spruce, and black spruce. Our analysis based on six remeasurements from 1983 to 2007 show that red pine has produced more than twice the volume of white spruce and about three times the volume of black spruce. The greater volume for red pine in comparison to the spruces is attributed to taller trees, larger average diameters and more basal area.
While a great deal of recent research has focused on opportunities for Indigenous participation in Canada's forest sector, relatively little has explored how to translate various lessons learned into inclusive and mutually-beneficial collaborative processes. Through a review of recent peer-reviewed literature examining Indigenous participation in forest management and development, this paper seeks to fill the current knowledge gap by proposing a set of five principles, with twentythree underlying supporting mechanisms, that can be adopted by Indigenous communities, resource managers and government policy makers to help facilitate meaningful collaboration within the forest sector. These principles include: building respectful relationships; broad community engagement; bridging knowledge and value systems; flexible and holistic management systems; and clear and relevant measures of success. Although the proposed principles may be implemented either individually or in various combinations, to both improve existing collaborative arrangements and develop new ones, they may be best conceptualized as an integrated, incremental process involving any number of motivated partners. It is hoped that the lessons presented in this article will serve as a basis for diverse stakeholder groups to better understand each other's needs and ultimately work more effectively towards achieving respectful co-existence and equity in Canada's forest sector.Key Words: Aboriginal, collaboration, development, First Nation, forest, Indigenous, management, natural resource, partnership, planning RÉSUMÉBien qu'une grande partie des recherches récentes ait porté sur les occasions de participation pour les peuples Autochtones dans le secteur forestier, relativement peu de travaux se sont penchés sur les façons d'appliquer les différents enseignements retenus dans des processus de collaboration inclusifs et mutuellement profitables. En s'appuyant sur une analyse des documents scientifiques récents sur la participation des Autochtones à l'aménagement et au développement forestier, cet article cherche à combler le manque actuel de connaissances en proposant un ensemble de cinq principes, accompagnés de 23 mécanismes de base pour les appuyer; ces outils sont à la portée des communautés autochtones, des gestionnaires des ressources et des décideurs gouvernementaux et pourraient améliorer la collaboration au sein du secteur forestier. Voici donc ces principes : établir des relations de respect; une grande implication de la communauté; le rapprochement entre le savoir et les systèmes de valeurs; des systèmes de gestion flexibles et globaux et des mesures précises et pertinentes du succès. Bien qu' on puisse choisir d'adopter un seul ou une combinaison de ces principes, il serait préfé-rable de les voir comme un processus intégré et progressif auprès de partenaires motivés pour améliorer les processus collaboratifs actuels et en développer de nouveaux. Espérons que les enseignements présentés dans cet article serviront de base à différents groupe...
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