#897: Healthy Landscapes Program: Emulating Mother Nature
Dr. David Andison is a forest ecologist and works with the Healthy Landscapes
Program at fRI Research.
As he explains, we can learn a lot from Mother Nature about how ecosystems really function.
For example, fire is key to renewing the boreal forest.
DR DAVID ANDISON: Most of the forests there are driven by fires. They rely on fires for their sustainability. The removal of disturbance is NOT an option. So what a lot of the agencies in Canada have turned to is some sort of a guideline where the pattern of forest harvesting is closer to that which Mother Nature would have provided by a fire regime. So the direction we’re heading in is we would end up with a range of sizes of forest harvesting openings. Some of them very large. Some of them very small. Severity would range from 10 or 20 percent mortality all the way up to 80 or 90 percent mortality. And we would ensure that the frequency is the same as the fire cycle.
Dr Andison says this idea of working with nature, or emulating the fire regime, is a fundamental principle behind ecosystem based management.
Thanks today to the HEALTHY LANDSCAPES PROGRAM at fRI RESEARCH
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
Sponsor
Healthy Landscapes Program, fRI Research
The Healthy Landscapes Program, formerly known as the Natural Disturbance Program, looks at landscape change at a huge scale, such as Canada’s boreal forest.
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The workshops in Athabasca, Grande Prairie, Calgary and Edmonton are an invitation to people interested in forest sustainability and healthy landscapes to contribute their experiences with the forest and with ecosystem based management.
A dialogue is different in that it is about sharing experiences and perspectives in a way that fosters discussion and the generation of new ideas.
Forest management has never been simple. However, the introduction of a new idea like ecosystem- based management (EBM) has complicated things to the point where it has become di cult to identify the source(s) of either support or opposition. This makes it extremely difficult to have a meaningful conversation about challenges and opportunities of a new idea like EBM.
Through professionally-facilitated sessions, the Healthy Landscapes Program at fRI Research will openly explore the barriers and opportunities to applying ecosystem-based management in Alberta.
Information gained from these workshops will be collated and analyzed in preparation for a report with recommendations on further implementation of Ecosystem Based Management.
The Healthy Landscapes Program is supported by fRI Research with 25 industry and government partners across several provinces and territories.
Program Date: 2017-09-19