Forestry Regulations Help Sustainability

NATURAL RESOURCES Forestry Regulations Help Sustainability

NOTE: This feature article is produced by the Department of Natural Resources. It deals with the Forest Sustainability Regulations, which became law in April of 2000.

The province's new forestry regulations, which will have a positive impact on the long-term sustainability of Nova Scotia's forests, are the big news in forestry these days. On April 12, Natural Resources Minister Ernest Fage announced that the Forest Sustainability Regulations are now law in Nova Scotia.

This important step is part of the forest strategy that began with the release of the government position paper entitled Towards Sustainable Forestry in October of 1997. Since then there have been a number of significant steps.

In January 1998, the Registry of Buyers was established to acquire more accurate and complete information on harvesting amounts, exports, imports, fuelwood and wood processing.

In December of 1999, amendments to the Forests Act were passed in the legislature, which led to the creation of new forestry regulations.

Many Nova Scotians are concerned that our forests have been over- harvested. The public and forestry industry recognize that to ensure a sustainable amount of wood fibre over the long-term, more silviculture activity is required. Specifically, this is the case on small private woodlots, which make up about 50 per cent of all forest land in the province and supply about 65 per cent of the wood. The new forestry regulations will address these concerns.

The new regulations directly affect all registered buyers who acquire 5,000 cubic metres (about 2,300 cords) or more of primary forest products each year from private lands in Nova Scotia for processing or exporting from the province.

All registered buyers acquiring more than 5,000 cubic metres per year from private woodland will be required to carry out a silviculture program (known as a wood acquisition plan) or contribute to the Sustainable Forestry Fund for every cubic metre of wood harvested from private lands. The silviculture requirement is based on $3 per cubic metre ($6 per cord) for softwood and $0.60 per cubic metre ($1.20 per cord) for hardwood.

All silviculture programs must be conducted on small private woodlots and industrial lands in proportion to the volumes of wood acquired from those lands. Registered buyers can choose two basic options to fulfill these requirements: either undertake a silviculture program themselves or by a private silviculture contractor or contribute directly to the new Sustainable Forestry Fund. They may also choose to implement a combination of the two methods. All registered buyers must meet these requirements of the regulations to maintain their status and to operate legally in Nova Scotia.

The end result, once all the requirements are met, is an annual silviculture budget up to $9 million.

There will be a phase in period for registered buyers who acquired 150,000 cubic metres or more of timber from private woodland in 1999. They must submit a wood acquisition plan for 50 per cent of these reported volumes by May 31, 2000. For example, if sawmill "X" acquired 300,000 cubic metres of timber from private lands during 1999, they would be required to submit a wood acquisition plan that shows how they will invest $450,000 (50 per cent x 300,000 x $3) in silviculture on private land.

All other registered buyers who acquired between 5,000 and 150,000 cubic metres of timber from private land during 1999 must submit a wood acquisition plan by Feb. 28, 2001. Their plan will be based on timber volumes acquired during the 2000 calendar year.

These new regulations will ensure a sustainable timber supply on all private forest land. Private woodlot owners will be able to access silviculture funding through various means: directly from a registered buyer's program; through organizations that undertake programs for registered buyers; through a private forest contractor that provides silviculture services; or through the Sustainable Forestry Fund.

These regulations will ensure consistent and dependable silviculture funding for woodlot owners compared to the uncertainty of funding over the past several years. Woodlot owners will also be able to participate in more flexible forest activities, including management of hardwood species, and trees of different ages in forest-management systems for softwood, hardwood and mixed-wood forests. It allows diverse landowner forest-management objectives to be met while providing an increase in the timber supply for the forestry industry, which is a significant contributor to our provincial economy and way of life.