Overview of the Ecological Forestry Research Initiative

Ecological forestry encompasses a type of disturbance-based forest management meant to emulate a forest’s natural disturbance. Although not a new concept in Canada, it was formerly adopted in the province of Nova Scotia for forestry activities on most publicly-owned land in 2022. This occurred after a scathing review of the prevalent forestry practices—predominantly clearcutting—was determined to have left the province’s forests in a state of decline. The adoption of the triad model of ecological forestry is a step in the right direction towards long-term ecological and economic sustainability. However, we are still in the early cycle of this model’s implementation, and its impact on the biodiversity, road network, and forest economics is unknown. The Ecological Forestry Research Initiative (EFRI) is a recent multi-sectoral initiative bringing together government departments, industry and non-profit groups, and 3 universities to fill some of the gaps in knowledge about the impacts of this large-scale transition to ecological forestry and a ‘triad’ model which balances additional land protection with some new high-industrialization areas.We will present key early results from some of our flagship research projects, including understanding the impacts of silvicultural techniques and changes in road networks and use stemming from ecological forestry applications on biodiversity features such as fish, benthic invertebrates, plants, and forest birds. We also hope to provide new knowledge for best practices in ecological forestry by studying and modelling windthrow and tree marking techniques.  We are also assessing methods for estimating forest carbon and engaging in knowledge translation to allow forest carbon value to be easily recognizable to banks and other conventional lenders. Knowledge exchange is a key aspect of this initiative and we are identifying ways to effectively communicate information on forestry to private woodlot owners and land stewards. EFRI provides support to Mi’kmaw led forestry and forest stewardship efforts, including those of the Eskasoni Fish & Wildlife Commission and the Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources.