Looking at the future of Nova Scotia’s forest industry, there are — no doubt — still hurdles to be traversed. There may still be mills that will close in our province. There may still be jobs that will be lost. And there may be investments that will choose to pass by our province for other shores.

At the same time, there are mills like Oakhill, Ligni Bel and Scotia Atlantic Biomass that are either up for sale, are restarting, or have investors looking to make a new investment. Contractors are back to work in the woods to support Port Hawkesbury Paper, and there are new shifts at our province’s sawmills. There’s a revamped market for biomass and energy production coming online with Nova Scotia Power’s new generating facility. Other new wood fibre-based technologies and products are being talked about and tested. And the demand for lumber in North America is seeing steady growth.

But either way, there will always be a future for forestry in this province.

One challenge we face as our industry rebounds will be putting the new ecosystem-based management system to work on lands across the province. Basically, this new system allows for each harvest site, each piece of land, to “say” what type of harvesting should take place, allowing forest professionals to take their planning cues from nature.

We’ll also be working to adapt our long term planning for wood supply and land management to meet the goal for reductions in clearcutting set out by the Department of Natural Resources. To meet these challenges is no small task for forestry companies. To do this, they must reassess what’s growing where on all lands that they manage. They must establish where each stand is in its growth cycle. And they must determine what changes to harvesting plans — that they may have been working with for decades — will now mean for the supply of wood to their mills, and how they manage each of their sites in the future.

By working towards these changes in the way forestry is done here, our industry will secure a strong future, and continue its role as both the backbone of the rural economy of Nova Scotia and a green, renewable industry for our future.
 

Source: Daily Business Buzz

Posted and edited by Riona, Hanbao News Department

Contact: rionach@cltimber.com