Leslie Resource Consulting Forest Manager Outline 1. Introduction - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Co-operative watershed management

Erik Leslie, RPF Leslie Resource Consulting Forest Manager

Outline

• 1. Introduction to HP Community Forest
• 2. Management objectives
• 3. Forest management approach
• 4. Market-based instruments
• 5. Opportunities and barriers

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The Harrop-Procter Forest

 11,000 ha  Domestic watersheds  Sensitive terrain  100 year old forests  Douglas-fir, larch,

pine, spruce-balsam, cedar/ hemlock

 Very little logging on

Crown land

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The Harrop-Procter Community

 Diverse rural population  Concerns about industrial clearcutting in watersheds  Advocated for local control since 1970’s  Many advocated for protected status  Strong-willed and persistent, organized, volunteer spirit

1980’s and 90’s: The ‘War in the Woods’

Harrop-Procter Community Co-op

 Harrop-Procter Watershed Protection Society:

successful CF application 1999

 HPCC incorporated in 2000  Member-owned co-operative, board elected directly

from community

Board includes small business

• wners, accountant, ecologist,

former tree planters, timber framer, carpenter, retired physiotherapist, beekeeper/ blueberry farmer, mechanic.

Forestry operations

Value-added (lumber) operations

BC Community Forest Program

 Provincial pilot program initiated in 1998, recognition of

need to diversify tenure system

 88 communities expressed interest  Ten successful pilot applicants  Currently 58 communities involved in program  Range in size from 1,000 to 85,000 hectares  1.5% of provincial AAC  25 year replaceable forest tenure

• 2. Management objectives

HPCC/ HPWPS objectives

 Watershed protection

 Protect water quality, quantity, timing of flow

 Ecologically-based forest management

 Maintain biodiversity and ecological integrity  Multiple use (not just timber)

 Promote local employment  Model of progressive, alternative forest management

approach

BBWMP objectives (2.1.4 and 2.4.4)

 Lands are managed with source water protection as the

highest priority

 Integrated landscape management principles are applied to

all land management decisions

 Landscapes support healthy ecosystems with and

abundance of economic, aesthetic and recreational

• pportunities

 Land is conserved / managed for multiple uses with

minimal impact on water—protect ecological integrity

Climate Change:

Adaptive management

 Ecosystems are dynamic

 wildfire, insects, disease

 Change is inevitable, rate of change will increase

 Hotter, drier summers  More extreme disturbances

 Evolving understanding of ecosystem ‘health’ and

‘ecological integrity’ objectives

 Implementing objectives will require adaptive, flexible

approach

• 3. Management approach

 Ecosystem-based, precautionary  Comprehensive reserve network  Zoning for multiple uses  Site-sensitive logging, partial cutting

“Ecosystem-based” approach

 Focus on ecological functions and integrity

 Natural disturbance regimes, forest composition and structure  Landscape ecology, conservation biology

 Precautionary principle—reserves, lower harvest level  Balanced activities, social/ community well-being

Reserve network

 Multiple spatial scales

 Landscape  Site/ stand

 Sensitive sites

 Soils  Terrain  Riparian

 Old growth forests  Rare ecosystems  Caribou habitat

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Zoning

 Multiple forest uses

 Recreation  NTFP harvest

 Cultural areas  Connectivity corridors

 Riparian zones

 Wildland-urban

interface zone

 Landscape-level fuel

breaks

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Site-sensitive logging

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• 4. Market-based instruments

FSC certification

 Voluntary market branding  Integral to HPCC business plan  Forest Stewardship Council

certified since 2003

 Niche market

 Logs  Lumber—added value

 Price premium (5 – 10%)

Other market-based instruments

 Carbon offsets

 Pacific Carbon Trust—provincial ‘carbon neutral’

commitment

 Voluntary carbon offsets market  Cap and trade would increase price / tonne CO2

 Ecosystem services

 If ‘public goods’ were monetized (e.g., water, fire

protection, visual quality, wildlife habitat)

• 5. Opportunities and barriers

Barriers

 Tenure system focused on timber  Log and lumber markets are very competitive and volatile  Limited market-based incentives for improved

management for non-timber values

 Poor economies of scale  Hard to access capital

Opportunities

 Diverse, niche markets available  Small scale vertical integration can be efficient  Novel approaches possible, if flexible  People want to support sustainable, community-based

enterprises

Thank you!

Erik Leslie, RPF erikl@netidea.com

• ffice (250) 229-2221

www.hpcommunityforest.org

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