Sustaining Old Growth Pinelands in Ontario : Pathways to Reform

Controversy over old growth pine forests in Ontario and consideration of related forest management issues associated more generally with sustainability encouraged a range of reform initiatives. The proposals might be broadly clustered under four headings: (a) legislative change; (b) participatory and procedural innovations affecting decision-making processes; (c) non-governmental initiatives — notably forest certification programmes; and (d) education and other measures within the profession of forestry. None of these approaches provided a conclusive resolution of the old growth controversy, although as a result of the Lands for Life/Our Living Legacy process significant areas of old growth pine will enjoy some form of protection. Despite these changes, forest management decision-making relating to old growth values will continue to require the ongoing exercise of discretionary authority as described in a companion essay. (Forest Management and Environmental Values: Ontario's Old Growth Pinelands. Available on the SSRN http://ssrn.com/abstract=2287478)