Climate change and Ontario forests: Prospects for building institutional adaptive capacity

Abstract

Climate change, Forest sector, Canada, Ontario, Institutions, Adaptive capacity,

Preparing for and Responding to Disturbance: Examples from the Forest Sector in Sweden and Canada

“…For both Sweden and Ontario, the storms and pests cases highlight the impact of government institutional capacities (mobilizers) and infrastructure to respond to threats and develop policy (also highlighted in general for adaptive capacity in forestry in Canada by Brown [20] and Johnston et al [56]). With regard to storms, an institutional linkage was made in Sweden both for the need for developing policy in general on risk events and also with regard to potential risks associated with climate change.…”

“…With respect to IAS, there are significant adaptation constraints arising from the multi-level nature of requisite response systems With regard to adaptation to climate change in general in Canada, this institutional, multi-level and multi-actor focus is highlighted by Brown [20], who notes that government, industry, First Nation, community and civil society actors will need to act together in working or task groups. Some examples already exist in terms of interaction bodies such as the advisory Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation under the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, or the Eastern Ontario Model Forest, which has been active in stakeholder cooperation and research on climate change since the mid-1990s ice storm events [20].…”

“…Some examples already exist in terms of interaction bodies such as the advisory Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation under the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, or the Eastern Ontario Model Forest, which has been active in stakeholder cooperation and research on climate change since the mid-1990s ice storm events [20]. Adaptation in forestry may thus also be dependent upon the development and mainstreaming of adaptation policy, the lack of which has been noted in Canada to constitute an institutional and policy barrier to adaptation [35].…”

“…The institutional dimension also refers to institutional and policy networks available to assist adaptation (see also Brown [20] for a discussion of institutional adaptive capacity). Finally, the equity dimension relates to the distribution of power, for instance whether small-scale and large-scale actors have the same chances of adapting or whether vulnerability is transferred to other actors and/or sectors by the adaptations undertaken.…”

“…In Sweden, however, a large proportion of the land (about 50%) is also owned by small-scale forest owners, and a proportion is owned by private forest companies (some 25%) [31]. This is different from Canada where public timber is leased to the forest industry by way of licenses granted to individual forest companies by the province to undertake forest management and logging [20]. In both countries, the forest industry has focused on high-volume commodities such as pulp, paper and timber, which are today increasingly sold on a world market.…”