Let’s Talk About Sustainability
July 9, 2014 11:30 am Leave your thoughts
Sustainability is an issue that the entire world is grappling with. The term pops up everywhere in our society, including the world of forestry. How to even define what the word means changes with the passage of time; thereby, changing how it is that we are able to achieve the idea. During the late 80s and early 90s, numerous conferences and protests were attended all over the world to determine what sustainability would mean to our economy, society and planet. One of the outcomes of this time period came on the heels of the Clayoquot Sound protests (which is an event very dear to my heart), which occurred in 1993 when environmentalists and residents of Vancouver Island came together to protect an area of beloved old-growth forest on the west coast of the Island from being extensively logged by numerous logging companies. This, along with the coverage of the deforestation in South America, reached the ears and hearts of consumers around the world, resulting in a mass questioning of where their lumber, pulp and paper products were originating from. From this, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was born, in an attempt to create a certification process that would help consumers make more educated decisions on every day purchases.
The FSC is a world-wide certification program; the only one backed by environmental groups including Greenpeace and the Sierra Club. It requires a company to attain rigorous environmental standards in the creation of a finished forest product above and beyond the standards set by government forest legislation. The certified product, whether it is 2x4s, raw pulp, a ream of paper or veneer, can be traced from its originating forest, to the truck, to the processing required for the product. All processing, from harvesting to mill, must follow a strict code of environmental and human resource ethics that respect not only the workers, but also the raw forest. This level of certification is attained by only 1,282 forestry companies world-wide.
Tembec is one of these companies, having been certified by the FSC since 2001, when it became the first company within Canada to achieve this status of certification on all levels of management. On June 11th, auditors visited our Romeo Malette Forest (where we are currently still tree planting!) to review the forest management plan, which guides the happenings of everything from silviculture to harvest to free-to-grow stands, and how this plays out from the plan on paper into the real world. Accompanying the auditors were two of Tembec’s management staff, and myself (!!) This was a very exciting opportunity for me, as I have spent a great deal of time studying the FSC and their ideals of sustainability, and would prove to be very informative for me in all areas of the forestry industry.
A management plan is incredibly comprehensive, covering not only the harvest itself, but also every stage of the forest. To ensure that Tembec was meeting the standards of FSC, we visited numerous areas of the Romeo Malette, beginning with an area that had been chemically treated the previous fall. This procedure is done to ensure that all competition (usually in the form of trembling aspen or “poplar”) does not over-power newly planted juvenile trees that will be the dominant forest for Tembec (being Jack pine and spruces). This is also done, on a conservation level, to ensure that a mixed forest of deciduous and conifers would be created, which is vital to local wildlife including birds and moose. The chemical used during this spray is a marvel of chemistry, leaving no residuals in the soil for new vegetation, as it becomes ineffective upon coming into contact with the soil (sometimes even being ineffective on trees close to the road which are dusty!).
Next we moved onto an area planted 7 years ago, populated mainly by spruce (with its marvelous violet cones coming in!) that has been deemed a free-to-grow forest, meaning it will continue undisturbed until the time comes when it would be harvested, which could be in another 80 years or so. This free-to-grow state is declared when trees reach a certain height over the competition growing around it, which varies by trees species. Companies managing these forests have 5-10 years from the plant (or seed) to reach this state of growth. The forest we visited was lovely and dense, with leaders reaching to the sky, soon to be a canopy one day. Who knows, in 80 years it might not even be needed for lumber, as the industry itself changes all the time to adapt to societal need.
Moving on, we visited two different harvesting operations, both being managed by differing contractor companies. This was the first time I had ever been on site during operations and it was certainly an experience. Truthfully, it is always hard for me to see trees being cut down, but it is hard not to be impressed by the machines and ingenuity behind them. We discussed with varying machine operators their roles within the process. Every person on operations has an environmental role to uphold-from recording streams and at-risk species to cleaning up machine oil spills. Ensuring that everyone is aware of this is high priority for not only the FSC certification, but is also a part of Tembec’s company mandate. We are all guests within the forest and without maintained health of the ecosystem, the industry would not flourish.
So many other stops were made that day, including sites that would be prepared for tree planting next year, a bridge to be decommissioned and culverts that had been recently installed. Ideas were discussed, ranging from the ideas of economics based around environmental issues and the ideals of sustainability. Our auditor stated that Ontario has some of the most rigorous forest policies already in place, so companies within these provinces already have sustainability built into their legislation; however, other provinces, such as Quebec have had their industry greatly improved by gaining FSC certification. It would be very interesting to discuss FSC with industry members back home in BC, as it was partly from forestry protests within the province that this type of certification began.
Although I learned so much from the day in the field (thanks Al!), there is always so much more to learn. As the tree plant enters the final weeks, I look forward to more experiences including some job shadowing where even more questions can be answered…they never stop coming!
Photos of harvesting from the field day…so much machinery!
