ProPoor Forestry in Canada

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Pro-Poor Forestry in Canada
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Forestry in Canada

• Staples Political Economy (Harold Innis)
• Canadian theory of political economy
• Reliance on Export of Primary Commodities
• Fur ? Cod ? Forests ? Oil
• Staples Trap
• Solving the Staples Trap
• Moving away from staples to the new economy
• Towards a sustainable staples economy?

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Poverty in the Canadian Forest Sector?

• Canada is one of the most urbanized countries in
  the world
• But
• Within each province, rural income is lower than
  urban income (Singh, 2004)
• First Nations rank low on a number of
  socio-economic indicators
• Record number of forest industry closures

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Crisis in the Canadian Forest Sector

• Causes
• US-Canada Softwood Lumber Dispute
• Downturn in the US housing market
• Appreciation of the Canadian dollar (versus USD)
• Running out of primary forests

(Source Canadian Forest Service)
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Turning point?

• We are at a turning point in the Canadian as the
  industry tries to cope with an economic downturn
  in the US and the depletion of large-volume
  forests
• Consolidation of industrial tenure
• Expansion of community forest tenure
• Big expectations for Community Forests Small
  tenures are expected to reflect local goals and
  priorities, manage for multiple forest values,
  generate benefits, spur economic diversification,
  test innovative forest practices, as well as
  support local milling, manufacturing, and
  value-added processing (Ambus 2007)

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The Decentralization of Resource Management

• 1987 World Commission on Env Dev
• Sustainable development is best secured by
  decentralizing the management of resources upon
  which local communities depend, and giving these
  communities an effective say over the use of
  these resources.
• Principle of Subsidiarity (2001 Supreme Court of
  Canda decision)
• the legislature and its drafters cannot foresee
  every particular situation. It appears to be
  sound legislative and administrative policy,
  under such provisions, to grant local governments
  a residual authority to deal with the unforeseen
  and changing circumstances
• Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor
  (UNDP, 2008)
• Recognition of a variety of land tenure,
  including customary rights, indigenous peoples
  rights, group rights, certificates, etc.,
  including their standardisation and integration
  of these practices into the legal system.

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Distribution of Community Forests

• Global Distribution

(Source Agrawal 2007)

• Canada
• In contrast to most other developed countries,
  much of Canadas forests are on public Crown
  land managed by the provinces (94)
• Community forests comprise only 1.3 (1.5
  million ha) of Canadas forest landbase

(Source Ambus 2007, Teitelbaum et al. 2006)
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Community Forests by Province
(Source Teitelbaum et al. 2006)
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Community Forest Agreements in BC
(Source Ambus 2007)
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Land Tenure and First Nations

• Western Canada many treaty negotiations still
  on-going
• Eastern Canada limitations on natural resource
  exploitation in when land claims yet resolved
• Frontenac Ventures Corporation v. Ardoch
  Algonquin First Nation
• Platinex Inc. v. Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug
  First Nation
• Reinforced need for recognition of aboriginal
  rights and law (S. 35 of the Constitution)
• No one can deny the importance of the rule of
  law in CanadaBut the rule of law has many
  dimensionsOther dimensions of the rule of law,
  however, have a significant role including
  respect for minority rights, reconciliation of
  Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal interests through
  negotiations

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Carbon and Canadas Forests

• Canadas forests will be a net source of
  emissions
• Western Canada source
• Pine Beetle
• Peat/Humus decomposition
• Reduced precipitation/Increased fires
• Eastern Canada sink?
• Rising precipitation/Increased growth
• Carbon offsets projects in the forest sector
• Liberals (pre-2006) Yes, were working on a
  offset system which would include forets
• Conservatives (2006-?) No, then Yes.

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Resources on Community Forests in Canada

• British Columbia Community Forest Association
  (BCCFA)
• www.bccfa.ca
• Institute for Northern Ontario Research
  Development (INORD)
• www.inord.laurentian.ca
• Canadian Environmental Networks Forest Caucus
• www.cen-rce.org

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Questions? Comments?
Mark Purdon, PhD Candidate Email
mark.purdon_at_utoronto.ca