Ottawa announced a two-year pilot program Thursday to support Indigenous communities and organizations working on forestry management and emergency preparedness. The funding, earmarked in Budget 2022, promises $28 million over five years to train 1,000 new community-based firefighters. The pilot involves nine Indigenous organizations and communities. The program, which will train 125 new Indigenous fire stewards to be ready for potential fires, is welcomed by Cliff Buettner, director of forestry and protective services at the Prince Albert Grand Council in Saskatchewan. He said it is a welcome addition to the council’s existing training, which teaches 400 to 500 people a year as emergency firefighters to fight and mitigate ongoing fires to ensure they don’t tear through entire communities.
As wildfires from coast to coast scorch large swaths of forest, sometimes changing it irreversibly, experts have zeroed in on an often overlooked casualty of the blazes: wildlife. Spring fires, such as the ones now burning across the country, are unusual and will possibly affect several species, said Karen Hodges, a biology professor at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus. …Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said Monday that more than 47,000 square kilometres have burned so far this year, with more than 430 wildfires raging across the country. Canada is experiencing its worst wildfire season of the 21st century, he said. Hodges fears things will only get worse, with months of hotter temperatures ahead. “I do expect a lot of animals to be displaced or killed,” she said. “I do expect some populations in some regions to be gone, or small, for decades to come as a result of this year’s burns.”
Canada’s federal government moved to create its own definition of “forest degradation” days after the European Union passed a law restricting the import of products linked to the practice. The new EU law will require wood products imported from Canadian forests — as well as anywhere else in the world — to be marked with geographic coordinates showing where they were harvested. Companies will then be required to combine that with satellite data and show their operations did not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation from 2021 onward. Last year, those measures prompted Canada’s ambassador to the EU to lobby lawmakers into adjusting the bill to exclude requirements around forest degradation. But those efforts failed. Once the rules are in force — in June 2023 — companies will have 18 months to get into line. Canada’s quick pivot to redefine forest degradation, has worried some environmental groups, who say a new definition could function as a loophole.
A group of logging contractors from the Nicola Valley have penned a letter to the provincial government regarding concerns with the province’s cutting permit referral process and high stumpage fees, along with economic and environmental worries over wildfire affected timber being left unharvested. The letter was sent to a number of local and provincial elected officials, and addressed to provincial Minister of Forestry, Bruce Ralston. The letter is from an unidentified group of local logging contractors who said they are requesting more clarity on timing for key issues like cutting permit issuance and responsible reforestation practices. “An estimated $100,000,000 in logging machinery is sitting idle and therefore, approximately 350 direct employees are not receiving pay-cheques,” states the letter. “These are tax paying citizens that are considering moving out of the province to keep their livelihood.”
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NETHERLANDS — The vast northern forests of Canada and Alaska are shifting northwards as a result of climate change. What’s more, the shift is faster at the southern boreal boundaries than the northern ones. This mismatch indicates that boreal forests are contracting on a continental scale, according to an international study led by Wageningen University & Research. …Boreal forests are expected to move northward due to climate warming. …At the same time, the climate may become too warm and dry in the southern parts of the boreal forest distribution where boreal trees have evolved under cold conditions. “The rates at which these two processes happen is key. The southern boreal may lose trees much faster than the northern boreal gains trees through expansion,” says Ronny Rotbarth, lead author and Ph.D. candidate at Wageningen University. “Such a mismatch would indicate a contraction of the biome.”