Indicator 6.5.4 - Status of new or updated forest management guidelines and standards related to ecological issues
core indicator


Forest managers must integrate a large amount of ecological, social, and economic information when planning and implementing sustainable forestry operations. To guide and direct forest managers in this regard, provincial and territorial forest management agencies produce science-based forest management guidelines and standards, including manuals, notes, and other policy documents. Over time, these guidelines and standards evolve and new ones are created as the scientific understanding of forest ecosystems and sustainable forest management advances.

This indicator describes the status of new and updated guidelines and standards that deal with ecological issues in forest management. These issues include, but are not limited to, woody debris retention, riparian management, wildlife conservation, corridor connections, soil disturbance, road construction, and stream crossings.

This indicator is important because it reflects the efforts made by provincial and territorial forest management agencies to continually improve their forest practices. Forest management agencies address many different ecological issues across Canada for which it is difficult to develop national quantitative indicators related to impacts or outcomes. However, understanding the extent to which ecological research is used in updating guidelines and standards is a key component in gauging ecological sustainability. This indicator complements other indicators in the framework. For instance, investment in forest research (Indicator 6.5.3) helps to ensure that our scientific understanding is constantly improving and that guidelines and standards are based on the best available information. Enforcement (Indicators 3.1, 3.2, and 6.4.2) helps to ensure that new and updated guidelines and standards are being implemented.

One important tool used by most provincial forest management agencies to guide and direct forestry activities and protect ecological considerations is the forest management planning manual. These manuals, which describe the policy and regulatory requirements for forest management plans, provide direction to managers in preparing their plans.

Forest management plans are required for forestry activities taking place on most provincial and territorial crown land. In addition to identifying anticipated forestry operations, these plans outline scheduled activities and investments for maintaining wildlife habitat, conserving biodiversity, protecting soils, retaining natural landscape patterns, as well as protecting other environmental, social, and economic values. For example, planning manuals may require that managers restrict harvesting during bird breeding and nesting season, define riparian buffer zones around streams and lakes, use silvicultural systems that maintain biodiversity, assess wildlife populations, or modify landscape harvest patterns using natural disturbance pattern emulation models.

Forest management planning manuals also often require that forest managers identify local or regional objectives and develop indicators to assess attainment of the objectives on the expiry of the plans. Quebec, for example, has recently developed eight ecologically based forest resource protection and development objectives related to soil and water conservation and biodiversity, which complement current regulations. In its next series of general management plans, forest managers will be required to propose actions in their plans to assess progress toward these objectives. Provinces also periodically update their planning manuals to reflect new information. For example, Alberta is currently revising its planning manual by incorporating components of the Canadian Standards Association's standards for sustainable forest management.

Guidelines, research notes, and handbooks also aid forest managers in implementing sustainable forestry operations. These guides are frequently reviewed to reflect advances in sustainable forest management concepts and scientific research. Ontario, for example, reviews its forest management guides every five years and is currently reorganizing its existing set of more than 30 guidelines into a suite of six books that will complement its recently revised forest management planning manual. Likewise, between 1999 and 2004, British Columbia revised, released, or was in the process of completing 29 guidelines related to forest ecological issues based extensively on recent ecological research.

Scientific research is an essential component of the policy review process. Provincial forest management agency research branches work closely with their policy counterparts to ensure that scientific studies are focused on current and anticipated policy needs and that the results of those studies are incorporated into new and revised guidelines and standards. In many provinces, guidelines and standards are also developed in partnership with the federal government, universities, industry, and other nongovernmental organizations. For example, the Manitoba Forest Practices Initiative Committee, which is a partnership of government and industry representatives, has recently developed guidebooks for preharvest surveys and understory protection in Manitoba. Similar guidebooks for road maintenance, brush disposal, and riparian zone management are currently under development.

Traditional Aboriginal ecological knowledge and nontimber forest products are also playing a larger role in strengthening forest management planning. For instance, the government of the Yukon Territory and the First Nations are working together to develop a set of best forestry practices. In Prince Edward Island, efforts are underway to assess the sustainable harvest of ground hemlock and balsam fir shoots.

Jurisdictions will continue to use science as a basis for developing and implementing sustainable forest policies and practices across Canada. In particular, the formation of guidelines and standards will evolve with the understanding of forest ecosystems and sustainable forest management concepts.