YourForest

In this episode of the Your Forest podcast, host Matthew Kristoff speaks with Dr. Jason Brown, an environmental ethicist, and lecturer in religious studies, about "contemplative forestry". They explore how blending mindfulness with ecological understanding can foster a deeper connection to forests. Jason shares his journey into this unique field, emphasizing the spiritual and cultural dimensions of forestry.

Dr. Jason Brown is a lecturer at Simon Fraser University, specializing in the intersection of religion, ethics, and ecology. With a background in anthropology, forestry, and ecological theology, Jason's work focuses on integrating spiritual practices into environmental management, promoting a holistic approach to forestry.

Matthew and Jason discuss the concept of "contemplative forestry," which combines mindfulness with ecological practices. They explore the balance between work and contemplation, the importance of recognizing forests' intrinsic value, and how indigenous practices can inform a more reciprocal relationship with nature. The episode also touches on broader themes like climate change and the role of spirituality in environmental stewardship.

Key Takeaways:

Work and Contemplation Balance: Contemplative forestry integrates practical work with mindful experiences, fostering a deeper connection to nature.
Contemplative Forestry: This practice views forests as living ecosystems and encourages a reciprocal relationship between humans and nature.
Relational Forest Management: Inspired by indigenous practices, this approach values both the ecological and cultural roles of forests.
Mindfulness in Nature: Engaging all senses in the forest promotes mindfulness and a deeper understanding of the environment.
Sacredness of Nature: Recognizing the spiritual value of forests can lead to more ethical and sustainable management practices.

Resources

Dr. Jason Brown's Website: https://holyscapes.org/
Dr. Jason Brown's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jason.m.brown.566/
Dr. Jason Brown's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holyscapes/

Sponsors

West Fraser: https://www.westfraser.com/
GreenLink Forestry Inc.: http://greenlinkforestry.com/

Quotes:

01:24:13-01:23:40- “Contemplative forestry has this sort of potential that no matter what you're doing in the forest, just do that thing right. Be present.”

00:19:45- 00:19:57- "Spiritual ecology or a contemplative ecology feels motivated to protect the environment because of its deep intrinsic value and our connection to that."

Timestamps:

Balance Between Work and Presence (00:00:05 - 00:00:37)
Connecting Spirituality and Environmental Ethics (00:20:33 - 00:21:05)
The Role of Indigenous Approaches in Forestry (00:23:20 - 00:23:56)
Contemplative Forestry as a Practice (00:30:43 - 00:31:12)
Embracing Mystical Traditions in Understanding Forests (00:40:29 - 00:40:46)
Reciprocity in Human-Forest Relationships (00:50:14 - 00:50:52)
Capitalism and Contemplative Practices (00:53:13 - 00:53:39)
The Need for a Revolution of Heart and Mind (00:56:29 - 00:56:55)
Reinterpreting the Concept of Value in Forestry (00:59:33 - 01:02:25)
Moving Away from Broad Acre Plantation Forestry (01:12:53- 01:13:13)
The Role of People in Ecosystems (01:15:52 - 01:16:49)

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In this episode of the YourForest podcast, host Matthew Kristoff sits down with Caroline Whitehouse, a forest health specialist with the Government of Alberta. They dive into the world of forest pests, focusing on the ecological importance of insects and how they contribute to forest resilience. Caroline shares her unique journey into entomology, emphasizing the need to appreciate insects not just as pests but as vital components of our ecosystems.

Caroline Whitehouse is a forest health specialist with the Government of Alberta, where she monitors and manages forest health, particularly in relation to insect populations. She is also completing her Ph.D., focusing on the role of insects in forest ecosystems. Caroline’s work highlights the importance of understanding and managing forest pests within the broader context of ecological health and resilience.

Matthew and Caroline explore the complex world of forest pests, discussing how insects like the mountain pine beetle play crucial roles in forest ecosystems. They talk about the challenges of managing these pests, the impact of climate change, and the importance of creating resilient landscapes. Caroline explains how disturbances, whether caused by insects or fire, are necessary for maintaining healthy forests. She also touches on the need for better monitoring and research to understand the full scope of insect biodiversity and conservation.

Key Takeaways:

Resilient Landscapes: Building resilient landscapes that can recover from disturbances is essential. This means promoting diversity in tree species, ages, and forest structures.

Insect Appreciation: Insects are fundamental to ecosystem processes. Rather than viewing them solely as pests, it’s important to understand their roles in nutrient cycling, pollination, and as food sources for other wildlife.

Monitoring and Research: There is a critical need for expanded monitoring and research on insect populations, particularly in the face of climate change. Understanding insect biodiversity is crucial for effective forest management.

Invasive Species: Urban forests are particularly vulnerable to invasive pests like the emerald ash borer. The spread of such species poses significant challenges for forest health and requires proactive management strategies.

To learn more about Caroline Whitehouse and her work, stay tuned for future episodes and follow the links provided below. Additionally, if you’re inspired by this episode, consider supporting your local ecosystems by planting a diverse range of native species in your yard and avoiding the use of harmful pesticides.

Follow Guest:

Caroline Whitehouse

Xerces Society

Alberta insect ID

Entomological Society of Alberta

Alberta Native Bee Council

Alberta Lepidopterist Guild

Sponsors

West Fraser

GreenLink Forestry Inc.

Quotes

46:25 - 46:53: “Insects are only pests as defined by us. Sure. They're just out there doing their thing right and living their lives and their populations fluctuate. And it's when it's something that becomes intolerable esthetically unpleasing to us or, you know, is potentially going to damage forest resources on a large scale, then that's a pest to us. It's kind of different in forestry, because in agriculture it's easy to define these. So we have a we have a process that's called integrated pest management.”

48:19 - 48:29: “When you remove a disturbance, that ecosystem becomes increasingly susceptible to exaggerated disturbances.”

Takeaways

Importance of Landscape Resilience (00:00:45) 

Caroline emphasized that creating resilient landscapes is crucial to ensuring that ecosystems can undergo disturbances and recover their functions. She believes the focus should be on maintaining ecosystem processes rather than the physical appearance of forests.

Caroline’s Journey into Entomology (00:05:11)

Caroline shared her journey of becoming fascinated with insects, particularly during her university years when she took an entomology course. This experience opened her eyes to the diversity and complexity of insects, leading her to pursue a career in forest entomology.

The Role of Insects in Ecosystems (00:09:39)

Caroline discussed the fundamental role insects play in every ecosystem, from decomposition to pollination. She stressed that without insects, ecosystems would collapse, affecting all forms of life, including humans.

Pollinators: Beyond Just Bees (00:12:41)

Caroline discussed the role of various pollinators, not just honeybees, in ecosystems. She pointed out that native bees and other insects are critical to pollination and that honeybees are often misunderstood as the primary or only pollinators.

The Misunderstanding of Honeybees (00:14:09)

Caroline highlighted the common misconception that honeybees are native and the only important pollinators. She explained that honeybees are actually domesticated livestock and that their proliferation can negatively impact native bee species.

The Threats Facing Native Pollinators (00:18:17)

Caroline elaborated on the challenges facing native pollinators, particularly the impact of habitat loss, disease, and competition from non-native species like honeybees. She emphasized the need for conservation efforts focused on native species.

Citizen Science and Insect Monitoring (00:30:59)

Caroline spoke about the potential for citizen science in insect monitoring, acknowledging the challenges in identifying insects but also the value in public involvement and awareness in conservation efforts.

Disturbance: A Key to Boreal Forest Health (00:48:00)

Caroline highlighted that natural disturbances, including those caused by insects, are crucial for the boreal forest's renewal and succession. Removing these disturbances makes the ecosystem more vulnerable to larger, more damaging events.

Insect Conservation as an Ecological Imperative (01:18:26)

Caroline argued that insect conservation is vital for maintaining ecological balance. She mentioned that insects have an intrinsic value and are crucial for the survival of many other species, making their conservation an ecological imperative.

If you liked this podcast, please check out our YouTube channel, also please rate and review it, share it on Instagram and Twitter tag a friend, and send your feedback and comments to [email protected].

Do you want to support healthy ecosystems, and create a legacy that can last? Me too. Start with your lawn, then your community, then see how you feel. Basil Camu is an expert in local rewilding and today he is here to share his passion for natural ecosystems and how you can create a bounding oasis of local biodiversity literally in your back yard! Think native! Flowers, grasses, forbs, shrubs, trees, everything helps!

I often get so wound up in forests and how we manage them that I forget that my yard, and community, can be a place for nature as well. I am now officially growing trees in my back yard with the intention of rewilding my property, and hopefully sharing that passion with others.

Resources

Leaf & Limb

From Wasteland to Wonder

Sponsors

West Fraser

GreenLink Forestry Inc.

Quotes

12.35 - 12.43: “I think humans are a part of this planet, we are all interconnected. There has been a huge disconnect between humans and the rest of life.”

Takeaways

“I love trees” (09.13)

Basil’s love for ecosystems is reflected in his book, From Wasteland to Wonder. He believes that humans are a part of the planet and should not be separated from nature.

Soil =  life + sand + silt + clay (20.45)

Basil explains how plants have been converting the sun’s energy into usable formats for millions of years, causing life to move from the oceans onto land and support all life above ground and under the soil.

A tree is a 3D printer of life (23.10)

Basil thinks of soil as a sponge, which holds water, thereby preventing flooding and enabling photosynthesis. He thinks of trees as pumps that feed the terrestrial planet and sequester carbon.

Is the grass greener? (37.40)

Basil points out that grass is the #1 crop grown in the USA but 10% or fewer Americans spend time in their yard. He highlights the need to work with natural systems instead of against them.

A global water crisis (40.10)

Basil calculates that by enabling photosynthesis and protecting the soil, you will do 75% of the things you can to address biodiversity.

“The best place to start is planting trees” (42.34)

Basil suggests people plant native trees. He suggests using chicken wire when planting native trees so they can grow protected.

Life for life’s sake (49.17)

A native plant can support most life, participate in the local ecosystem and sequester carbon from the atmosphere.

Nothing leaves the yard (59.19)

Soil can be fed with any organic matter - fallen leaves, woodchips, etc. Basil recommends using compost instead of fertilizers since fertilizers have a massive carbon footprint.

Self-sustaining meadows (1.09.24)

Basil speaks about using glyphosate to remove vegetation and create a native meadow for ecological restoration. He recommends sowing a seed blend or flower seeds during winter.

Grow your own meadow (1.14.56)

Basil recommends planting butterfly milkweeds to help monarch butterflies on their flight path. He also suggests planting a few saplings to create a pocket forest and putting up educational signs.

A forest in your pocket (1.21.06)

Basil suggests using oak and hickory trees which have higher ecological value, feed more species of life and have understory species and shrub layers.

Project Pando (1.26.47)

Project Pando, the non-profit arm of Leaf & Limb, engages a community to collect seeds from native trees and shrubs and get them processed and planted through volunteers. Working with trees helps strengthen the bond and connection for people to see themselves as a part

If you are looking for inspiration, look no further than the story Percy Guichon was willing to share with us. Through hardship and discrimination, pain and suffering, a few First Nations were able to create thriving communities out of hard work and ingenuity. Percy came on the show to share his personal story, but also that of his Nation and the success they have had building forestry enterprises that look out for land and give back to community. Reconciliation takes lots of forms, Percy’s story is about collaboration and thinking outside the box.

Resources

Percy Guichon

The residential school Percy attended as a child was purchased by Williams Lake First Nations to help honour their ancestors:

Article: St. Joseph's Mission residential school site should be 'a place of healing'

Central Chilcotlin Rehabilitation Ltd.

Sponsors

West Fraser

GreenLink Forestry Inc.

Quotes

20.46 - 20.54: “I think… the start of… reconciliation is just by acknowledging those… past harms and what it did to our people.”
Takeaways

Traditional territory (4.44)

Percy is a member and Councillor of Tŝideldel First Nation in the interior of British Columbia. He is grateful to be one of the few of his generation to speak his native language.

Knowledge and experience (8.40)

The conditions of First Nations members during his childhood were some of the reasons that inspired Percy to run for Chief many years later, where he served for 6 years.

Indigenous consultation (12.21)

Percy’s earliest memories are of living on the land with the other animals that occupy it, including its waters. That laid the seed of his interest in forestry through high school.

Truth and reconciliation (19.49)

Reconciliation efforts are taking place across Canada to acknowledge the harms of residential schools, cultural genocide and economic marginalization. Separating children from families caused intergenerational trauma and alcoholism.

Communities building their destiny (22.41)

Percy believes it is important for institutions and systems to work with Indigenous people to remove barriers to meaningful long-term employment and empower communities. 

Reconciliation and forestry (26.17)

First Nations communities have formed forestry companies and created development corporations. They are also being consulted by the Ministry of Forestry.

The trauma of residential schools (30.55)

Percy went to residential school at age 7 with his siblings and cousins. The impacts on his community, his culture, his friends, his family, and his sense of self were devastating.

Leave a lasting legacy (47.29)

Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation (CCR) focuses on cleaning up the mountain pine beetle-infested areas. First Nations communities need to be involved in the forest industry for sustainability. 

From companies to communities (55.28)

Percy rejoices in the transfer of forest licenses from companies to communities. This helps distribute the responsibilities between conservation officers and community members.

Honouring agreements (1.04.45)

Percy shares the stories of how different First Nations have built agreements with the government, similar to how they created treaties.

Strengthening the culture (1.10.53)

Percy speaks about the supreme court decision demarcated title land area, how the BC government exonerated chiefs and the tripartite framework agreement.

Healthy and happy communities (1.19.25)

Percy believes that communities must have forest licenses so they can benefit from them. Elders still carry out traditional practices like berry picking and collecting medicinal plants.

Building relationships (1.27.30)

Percy looks forward to building relationships with other First Nations neighbours, sharing best practices and exchanging expertise and resources to create future-forward sustainable projects.

Allyship in action (1.34.14)

It is important to be respectful of the communities, address land rights, create revenue-sharing agreements and help the communities grow.

Resources

Max Nova

Sponsors

West Fraser

GreenLink Forestry Inc.

Quotes

06.17 - 06.22: “Forests are valuable for more than just what you can cut down and roll out of the forest.”

Takeaways

“Private landowners are where the climate economy and land management happen” (05.31)

Max is the co-founder and COO of NCX, which began 14 years ago with his undergrad friend to help landowners understand the value of forests and measure and pay for the values they provide.

Discover the true value of your land (09.35)

Max shares that landowners can participate in many public and private programs to help cover the cost of planting trees, protect wildlife habitat and maybe even get paid for carbon credits. NCX helps landowners access nature-positive assets and develop new revenue streams for their property.

Money is not everything (13.20)

While financial returns from the land are important to maintain the land, most landowners rank ROI lower than being out in nature, leaving a legacy for their children, and connecting with wildlife.

“Nature never stands still” (20.30)

Max elaborates on the different programs available for different categories of land use across different geographies, with varied terms of payment. He emphasizes that landowners should understand the timings, risks and rewards of each, given the ever-evolving nature of the forest.

The conundrum of net zero emissions (24.56)

Max explains that many large corporations are working towards net zero emissions by reducing emissions or buying carbon offsets by a certain date in the future. However, the change made by these declarations is debatable as many corporations are coming up on their goal date, causing many to not commit to net zero goals.

Balance trade offs against your values and objectives (31.54)

Max explains the concepts of baseline and additionality in carbon credits, where one needs to be mindful of how purchasing carbon credits can reduce carbon in the atmosphere. Natural regeneration is a more accepted and supported option.

Everyone wants a healthier planet (46.14)

NCX’s vision is a world where landowners own land that is fully and fairly valued for all nature-positive benefits it is providing. He believes that everyone wants less carbon in the atmosphere, more wildlife, and healthier soil.

“Perfection is impossible” (49.17)

Max shares the different kinds of programs that support natural regeneration, where the best fit for landowners will depend on their preferences. TMax believes that having a humble learning mindset instead of a critical approach will help navigate complex forest dynamics.

“Keep your head on a swivel” (1.08.08)

NCX works on laying the foundations of research and education to prepare for a future when fiscal responsibilities of different forest values have been fairly distributed by the powers that be. If you are a landowner, visit the NCX website to get a free initial assessment of your options.

Wildfire has always been here, and humans have always had a relationship with it. These days, we have recognized that our relationship to fire has been less than ideal. Wildfire smoke has consumed our summers, wildfire threat has persisted in our minds, and there seems to be no end in sight. So, how do we begin to change our relationship to fire? How do we go from surviving it, to thriving with it? The knowledge exists, the solutions are there, how do we make it happen? Transformational change is hard.

Resources

Lori Daniels

Sponsors

West Fraser

GreenLink Forestry Inc.

Quotes

23.23 - 23.34: “Trees are really amazing; trees will colonize till they establish and grow and persist in any space where the seedling can arrive and be given an opportunity to survive.”

Takeaways

The more awareness, the better (4.53)

Lori highlights the importance of fire safety awareness and training, since “almost half of the fires in Canada are started by people”.

The Centre for Wildfire Coexistence (10.34)

The Centre for Wildfire Coexistence at the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia looks at the recovery of ecosystems and communities in BC.

What tree rings tell us (12.54)

Lori’s research takes place at the Tree Ring Lab at UBC, processing samples from the forest to understand how historical fire regimes functioned across a range of ecosystems.

Historical fires (15.45)

Tree rings provide some quantitative metrics that demonstrate Indigenous knowledge of the fire intervals and their impacts on the ecosystems where the fires burned.

Viewing fire as bad (20.03)

Lori points out that European settlers made it illegal for Indigenous people to practice cultural burning, creating “an abrupt change in the way that fire functioned in the ecosystem”.

The fire deficit (21.49)

Lori shares that cultural burning maintains heterogeneity and variability of forests and diversity of ecosystems essential to maintaining biodiversity in BC.

The fire suppression paradox (26.21)

Reintroducing fire as proactive mitigation is important in forests where the fire regime has been disrupted and fuel has accumulated, putting communities and other values in danger.

Wildfire behaviour (27.58)

Lori lists three critical factors that control wildfire behaviour and effects - the interactions between weather and topography, the intensity of the fires, and the fuels.

A challenging situation (38.13)

Concerns about smoke stopped prescribed burns that provided the benefits of surface fires, leading to the accumulation of fuel and high-intensity fires.

Local capacity building (54.47)

Lori’s advice is to empower BC’s 154 municipalities, and 204 Indigenous communities through funding and education to execute their wildfire resilience plans.

Mitigation is like insurance (1.03.04)

Climate change dictates more such fires in the future, predicting rising costs of firefighting and medicines for the vulnerable, and damage to homes, farmlands, water supply and habitats.

Cognitive dissonance (1.19.34)

Lori hopes that the provincial legislature will understand the importance of contributing funds in order to make changes in policies and practices that will govern forest management.

Be fire smart (1.26.21)

Investing in fire-proofing one’s home and understanding how fuel treatments and prescribed burning can help are steps to take toward changing fire behaviour to reduce wildfire risk.

Win-win situation (1.33.26)

Some First Nations use the biomass they remove from the forests around their community to create heat energy that supports their medical center and offices.

Nature knows best…right? So, our forest management strategies should try to emulate nature? That’s what we used to think. Unfortunately, our ideas on how to emulate natural disturbance rarely result in something that acts like a natural disturbance. Bottom line, we are not fire, and we want different things from fire, so we need to not act like fire. We have had some good ideas, and our minds were in the right place, but it is now time to shake things up. Let’s put that big head of ours to use and come up with something that would make mother nature proud.

Resources

Ellen Macdonald

Sponsors

West Fraser

GreenLink Forestry Inc.

Quotes

43.23 - 43.32: “The more complex and variable and flexible you make regulations, the more difficult it is to go and see if people are following them or not.”

Takeaways

Sustainable forest management (10.46)

Ellen concurs with the widely held definition of sustainable forest management as “managing our forests in a way that sustains the full diversity of values they have”. This differs from the old definition of sustained yield forestry which focused on sustaining timber production.

Emulation of natural disturbances (15.31)

Ellen talks about the origin of sustainable forest management in the 1980s-90s motivated by a desire to sustain a full range of values and inspired by natural disturbance patterns. Ellen believes the emulation of natural disturbances is one tool to achieve ecosystem management goals.

Nature knows best (19.23)

Ellen points out that using natural forest ecology to inform forest management goes back to the 1920s-30s when nature was used as an inspiration to understand how forests functioned and regenerated after disturbances depending on the species there to inform silviculture practices.

Identifying the real objective (28.12)

The important differentiator of natural disturbance, whether fire, insects or major disturbances is that “they don’t kill everything”. They create opportunities for trees to regenerate and create structural diversity in the forest. The focus should be on forest management plans purposefully emulating the effects of natural disturbance instead of the patterns of natural disturbance.

Challenges in sustainable forest management (43.00)

Ellen finds that the complexity of implementing regulations related to sustainable forest management is a challenge. There are also worries that some may take advantage of the flexibilities in the regulation or make mistakes in interpreting how natural disturbance effects should be emulated since it is not a well-tested hypothesis. Additionally, forests take a long time to grow, so it will be a slow process.

The old and the new (51.17)

Ellen uses the example of deadwood to explain how the understanding of different components of a forest evolves over time. Different technologies today can help us monitor, document and inventory forest biodiversity which allows for more opportunities to manage forests better.

Always learning (1.07.08)

Ellen advises learning from Indigenous peoples’ history with landscape management and the tools they use. She hopes “forest management can be viewed like science - as a never-ending set of questions rather than a series of disconnected truths”.

If you liked this podcast, please rate and review it, share it on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, tag a friend, and send your feedback and comments to [email protected].

Image curtesy of National Geographic and Eye of Science through Sue Grayston

In forest management, we spend a lot of time on the things we can see; charismatic megafauna, trees, pests and plants. But what about the things we can’t see? What if I told you there was an entirely unexplored ecosystem below our feet? One that has more biodiversity than we can imagine. This community is responsible for half of the carbon sequestration of the forest, and the maintenance of ecosystem function for above ground species. This life beneath our feet is as much responsible for the forests we love as the biggest trees and the cutest caribou. Let’s show it some love. 

Resources

Continuous root forestry—Living roots sustain the belowground ecosystem and soil carbon in managed forests

Sponsors

West Fraser

GreenLink Forestry Inc.

Takeaways

New frontiers (10.17)

Cindy highlights that they found archaea populations in forest soil, a different type of organism which can also carry out nitrification of the soil.

Unseen but important (14.41)

Cindy shares that it is difficult to advocate for the importance and inclusion in forest management of organisms that can’t be seen.

A whole world in a spoon of soil (19.52)

Next-generation sequencing techniques help us understand the workings of organisms in the soil.

Microbial processes (24.51)

Sue describes the labelling techniques through which they label trees with heavy isotopes of carbon sources similar to the carbon from trees, allowing them to identify groups of organisms that are important in using that carbon.

Saving the world (30.20)

Sue spotlights the fact that many organisms spend all or some of their lives in the soil creating a link between organisms above and below. Forest soil microbes remove methane and nitrous oxide from the atmosphere and clean water waste.

Knowledge is power (34.41)

Cindy believes that understanding the workings of soil organisms is better than using chemicals for biological controls. Microbes process organic matter and help lock it into the soil.

How forest harvest affects microbial communities (48.40)

Sue found that dispersed retention in clear cuts has a better function in retaining microbial diversity and its functioning across the cut block. Cindy adds that mycorrhizal fungi communities depend on the dynamic flux created by trees.

Below-ground diversity leads to a resilient ecosystem (56.32)

Every plant species has its temperature range of comfort which is being affected due to climate change. Recent wildfires have also been devastating for the soil biome.

Inoculant seed zones (1.06.59)

Sue and Cindy talk about how unaffected forests can act as seed zones after a wildfire. Nitrogen fixers prevent the soil from declining if there is a wildfire again.

What’s below is as important as what’s above ground (1.22.33)

Cindy offers a different way of thinking about forest management - that sites can not only be saved but also improved using the understanding of below-ground ecosystems. She laments the lack of care with which soil is currently viewed.

Stand and landscape level diversity (1.36.21)

When there is a diversity of tree and plant species, there will also be below-ground diversity. Built into that maintenance of stand productivity is using improved genetic stocks that are programmed to grow faster as well as silviculture techniques.

Ongoing monitoring (1.41.45)

Cindy talks about the need to monitor soil biodiversity and measure key processes and the amount of soil organic matter, especially mineral-associated organic matter. She reinforces the need to develop resilient forests, and the first step would be to update forestry policies.

What stands in the way of the future of sustainable forest management? There are many answers to this question, but the deepest answer may be colonialism. The very structure of our governing bodies and institutions have made it very difficult to try new things. It is possible that our colonial system of organization and decision making now stands in the way of progress. Organizations have to fight against the system to make new decisions, and move in new directions. The first thing we have to do is recognize the problem.

Resources

Ira Sutherland

Dynamics in the landscape ecology of institutions

Sponsors

West Fraser

GreenLink Forestry Inc.

Quotes

1.27.55 - 1.28.02: “Can we really transform these systems into something generally sustainable if we cannot transform ourselves first?”

Takeaways

Sustainability (10.00)

Ira defines sustainability as a dynamic process of constant learning. Institutions are meant to be constantly monitoring changes in the environment and adapting and evolving in response.

Institutions (18.51)

Institutional processes are the activities conducted on the land base which provide feedback for monitoring to the institutions.

Power (21.55)

The arrival of the provincial colonial government became the main decision-making authority for all lands in BC. From the 1970s to the 1990s, environmental NGOs began having some say with international boycotts against BC timber products. Since the 1970s, First Nations ancestral rights have also been recognized through case law in BC.

Wise use (24.10)

In BC, many areas were protected as forests and wasteful early timber harvesting practices were modified to prevent wildfires and ensure more resources for future generations.

Sustained yield (28.17)

Sustained yield forest management in 1948 formalized the goals BC had for its forests, and it sought to have a continuous or even perpetually increasing supply of timber.

Intention vs. outcome (30.15)

Ira highlights that early institutional functions in BC did not consider Indigenous land rights and the needs of the Indigenous people and it led to the 1990s pine needle epidemic and fires since.

The forest practices code (34.25)

The forest practices code was introduced in 1995. 11 different values have to be managed alongside timber, such as biodiversity.

Timber bias (36.56)

Ira laments that even though new policies have been created, they are layered on top of the old ones, but it doesn’t remove the emphasis on sustained yield in forest management in BC.

Change (44.50)

BC has restricted converting forest to regulated stands to 15% of the land, elevated First Nations decision-makers in the area and created new types of conservation zones.

Social values (59.40)

Ira’s research paper measures biophysical structures within the forest and uses that as a proxy to estimate the capacity of a given forest and provide multiple ecosystem services.

Multi-dimensional approach (1.03.15)

Ira opines that better data on multiple ecosystem services and a structured decision-making process need to inform forest management practices.

Polycentric forest governance (1.11.11)

Managing the forest locally is the top recommendation in Ira’s paper to effectively monitor changes, understand local values and make management decisions that reflect those.

Forest management recommendations (1.14.30)

The second recommendation in Ira’s paper is to maintain and restore complex landscapes, with heterogeneity at the stand and landscape scale for ecologically resilient landscapes. The third recommendation is to help institutions adapt through reflective processes.

As modern culture expands, wilderness dwindles in its wake. It has become more challenging to create empathy for land through real experience. Luckily, there are people like Jim Lane. Jim teaches an Ecology and Conservation course for High School students. His approach gets students out in the bush to experience nature first hand. They learn about scientific observation, interconnectedness, ecology, history and colonialism all through observing nature. All this without leaving school property.

Resources

Jim Lane

Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic

Sponsors

West Fraser

GreenLink Forestry Inc.

Quotes

15.29 - 15.37: “A land ethic changes the role of a human from a conqueror to just a plain ordinary citizen of the biotic community.”

Takeaways

Authentic learning (04.54)

Jim always wanted to be a high school science teacher, influenced by his teachers. As a child, he loved being outside and has turned his passion for the outdoors into a profession.

Field ecology and conservation (12.40)

Jim’s students are tasked with designing a way to measure the forest. The empathy for the forest is developed as a product of that process. He teaches Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic to help students see themselves as part of the natural world. A ‘sit spot’ exercise involves authentic journaling of natural observations.

Sit Spot (20.19)

In interviewing former students, Jim learned that the ‘sit spot’ exercises had helped students overcome stress and gave them a space to process their feelings and find themselves, alongside discovering the dynamics of the natural world.

Building empathy (30.14)

Jim reflects that hope and trust are important for students to feel engaged in a course such as this. He introduces them to different birds and their lifestyles, makes them taste the bark of aspen, or challenges them to write down observations of the forest from memory. “Those experiences where you are pushed beyond that comfort zone is where you start to build… empathy”, he notes.

“Knowing that there’re things you don’t know” (43.35)

Jim observes that land and most of the natural world don’t move in a timeframe that humans understand. He shows his students how the knowledge of just one tree can “not only unlock the history of the land that it grew on but also that history of the people on the land”.

Respecting the forest (1.05.27)

Jim believes that seeing the forest over a long period helps develop respect and appreciation for it, knowing it takes very long to replant it.

Forests and fires (1.08.15)

Jim’s advice to other teachers who are looking to encourage authentic learning is to allow students to have authentic experiences with the forest. He laments how fires have made it dangerous and difficult to be outdoors. He narrates how a researcher interviewed Indigenous Elders on managing a forest using good fire, but that advice has not been followed. The destruction from wildfires has also damaged the cultural activities of the Indigenous.

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