“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulance, it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”
— Peter Drucker - One of the best known and widely influential thinkers and writers on the subject of management theory and practice.”
Putting Indigenous Rights and Authority at the Heart of Conservation
As an organization, Nature United believes that the increased authority and capacity of Indigenous peoples to steward their lands and waters is critical for the future of healthy ecosystems and communities, and it results in effective and durable sustainable management over time.
Klahoose First Nation and Community Forestry
Chief James Delorme of the Klahoose First Nation reflects on their partnership with the non-native forestry co-op on Cortes and presents part of his vision for the Community Forest and the economic future of his people.
Suzanne Simard - Dispatches from The Mother Tree Project
Any forester will tell you that different trees have different value, and that value is generally set by the marketplace. But what if the value of some trees is below ground rather than above it?
Heart Wood Stream Series - Ray Travers
Ray Travers is a retired professional forester and 50 year veteran of the forest industry. He has also worked with various levels of government as an expert in forestry. Ray is an outspoken advocate for ecologically sustainable forestry and regional management of public forests in B.C. He believes we need effective action in our forests, to stop doing what is not working, and to incrementally improve what is.
Changing the Tenure System
Herb Hammond, Taryn Skalbania, and Jennifer Houghton discuss the problems of trying to change tenure incrementally rather than changing the whole system. The timber industry’s major focus is on ensuring that the laws protect tenure. Citizens do not have the same political or legal position when they try to negotiate with tenure holders who have special protection via legislation. Herb reveals the conditions that need to be met in order to level the playing field.
If communities and citizens get engaged in incremental change there is a danger that the process becomes the focus rather than the issue that needs to be resolved. Citizens and communities will be wasting time meeting with FLNRORD, BCTS, MLAs, Lawyers, and the Forest Practice Board until the playing field is levelled and citizens have equal legal standing. Herb discusses the ways that involving Indigenous nations in government to government relations may be a way to protect the public interest and also implement nature based forestry management.
Menominee Forest Management
It would be much better if we begin with the outcomes we want in forestry, like ecological integrity, high quality water, diverse productive forests, and high quality of life for people. The challenge of the decision maker is to choose the most effective means to achieve these desired ends.
Clearcutting which reduces above ground complexity and diversity to zero will be the least effective means to achieve these desired outcomes. That is why the late Aldo Leopold said the key to intelligent forestry (he called it tinkering) is to "keep all the pieces". One example where has been done for about 100 years is the 250, 000 acre Native American Menominee Forest in Wisconsin.
Alternative Models and Log Sorts
There are forestry and mill models in BC that successfully support small business, create more jobs per M3 of timber harvested, and implement logging that is more respectful to nature than clear cutting. Implementing these models on a widespread basis has the potential to create a small business revolution in BC and protect old growth.
The panel discusses: the economic success of the Vernon log sort yard and why the BC government shut it down, how value-added makes small businesses richer, the Harrop Proctor Community Forest model for logging and creating local jobs, and how workers became empowered and wealthier when they bought a mill.
We discuss the importance of promoting this vision for managing forests differently in BC in order to protect workers, protect the environment, and save old growth. Plus, we talk about how environmentalists and forestry workers can help each other.
Countering Biomass Disinformation
In this session Dr. Mary Booth explains why burning wood should not be counted towards renewable energy targets. She talks about how the forest carbon sink is decreasing and the relationship between renewable energy targets and BC forests.
She shows that burning pellets can be less clean than burning coal. It becomes clear that incentives are coming from other countries to cut down BC trees so they can be used to produce energy in those countries.
We take a look at specific BC rainforests that are being cut down to make pellets; and the agreements that the BC government is making with other countries to cut down old growth to provide pellets to produce energy. The speakers explain why public subsidies to the wood pellet industry have to stop and why we must speak out to protect remaining primary and old growth forests from being cut for pellets. We talk about why BC residents must push to end subsidies that treat the burning of our trees as renewable ‘carbon free’ energy.
Heart Wood Stream Series - Dr. Judith Sayers
Dr. Judith Sayers, Kekinusuqs, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and former elected Chief of the Hupacasath First Nation for 14 years. Dr. Sayers has extensive experience practicing law in both BC and Alberta and working in international forums, advocating for the promotion and protection of First Nations rights and title.
Learning the Grammar of Animacy: subject and object
Drawing on both indigenous and scientific knowledge, botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants, talks about the importance of cultivating a reciprocal relationship with the environment, and how understanding our connection to the land helps us connect more deeply with one another.
Humanity has 20-30 years to forestall runaway climate warming. We are urged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions drastically, and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The imperative is to avoid carbon emissions now.
Climate Change and B.C.’s Forest and Range Ecosystems
Without healthy ecological systems economies will fail. For agencies that deal with land use policies this first step can help to identify initial areas of policy that should be reviewed through the climate change lens.
Proforestation Mitigates Climate Change and Serves the Greatest Good
Climate change and loss of biodiversity are widely recognized as the foremost environmental challenges of our time.
Confronted with the extreme threat of climate change, society must recognize that our survival is dependent on the survival of nature and that we who are pre-eminently part of nature will determine its fate.
An independent panel undertook public engagement to hear people’s perspectives on the ecological, economic and cultural importance of old-growth trees and forests.
Conservation of old growth is not just a provincial or regional issue. A recent review paper has emphasized the indispensable role of the world’s dwindling intact forests in mitigating climate change (especially through carbon storage and uptake), regulating local climate and hydrology, conserving biodiversity, providing key ecosystem services, strengthening indigenous cultures, and supporting the maintenance of human health.
After working for 20 yrs in old forest management issues in BC, a technical status report was written to inform the conversation around current condition, the likely future risk and the need to update old forest policy in BC.
Tenure Reform in British Columbia? Model, Trust and Charter
Over the last 130 years, various British Columbia provincial governments have struggled with the development of forest policies for public lands.
In the history of human civilization, economies that have been sustainable over the long-term are community based economies. Because decisions in community-based economies are made close to the land and water —ecosystems —affected by economic activities, community-based economies have the best chance for decisions that respect ecological limits and maintain ecological integrity.
Forests managed for biodiversity rather than just timber supply support a wealth of sustainable businesses opportunities. Non-timber forest products like wild mushrooms, salal, berries, and medicinal plants are worth many millions of dollars to the BC economy.
We advance Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas and Indigenous Guardians programs, because they foster, and are an expression of, Nationhood. They also help solve existential threats like climate change and loss of biodiversity. And they help prepare a path toward reconciliation, Nation-to-Nation relationships, and a better foundation for Canada.
NatureBank specializes in advisory, technology and impact project investment services that create value and enhance sustainable commodities and ecological assets while managing climate change risk and maximizing long-term investment in nature.
It's the 1990s in the Pacific Northwest. A march of chainsaws clear-cuts the country's last available ancient forests. Protesters bury themselves in front of bulldozers and spend months sitting in the tallest trees in the world. And at the center, the Northern Spotted Owl becomes the most controversial bird in the country. The "Timber Wars" podcast tells the story of how this conflict reshaped the Northwest and the nation as a whole, in ways we're dealing with still.
The story of the industry’s decline and the case for regional management. Bob Williams was Minister of Lands, Forests and Water Resources in the BC government of Dave Barrett (1972–75) and Deputy Minister of Crown Corporations in the government of Mike Harcourt (1992–96). He has a degree in Community and Regional Planning, and in October 2017 was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by Simon Fraser University.
Fantastic Fungi, is a consciousness-shifting film that takes us on an immersive journey through time and scale into the magical earth beneath our feet, an underground network that can heal and save our planet. Through the eyes of renowned scientists and mycologists we become aware of the beauty, intelligence and solutions the fungi kingdom offers us in response to some of our most pressing medical, therapeutic, and environmental challenges.
Trees appear to communicate and cooperate through subterranean networks of fungi. What are they sharing with one another?