GREATER FUNDY ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH PROJECT

UNB Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management


Forest Management Guidelines to Protect
Native Biodiversity in the Fundy Model Forest




The steep sided ravines of the Point
Wolfe River (Photo: G. Forbes)		 The Greater Fundy Ecosystem (GFE) Research Project was established in 1991 to provide the type of ecosystem-based research and science support necessary to manage a sustainable landscape. Its overall objective is to protect ecological structures, functions and processes while providing sustainable flow of goods and services for people.

The GFE Research Group is multidisciplinary, with members from industry, government and universities. Since the Group's establishment its aim has been to be inclusive and not to be seen as solely aligned with the aspirations of a particular group or agency.

The GFE research group predates the Fundy Model Forest (FMF) and was instrumental in its development. Since the establishment of the Fundy Model Forest in 1992, the GFE Research Group has worked within the FMF partnership to provide the ecological research necessary to conduct forestry in an ecologically sustainable manner.

These guidelines were submitted to the Fundy Model Forest Partnership for use in planning for the wise harvest of forested lands to conserve biodiversity. They were developed after considerable on-site research and the review of other similar efforts. Because they focus on the conservation of biodiversity, these guidelines are only part of a larger, more comprehensive set of guidelines that are required for sound forest management. Absent from this set of guidelines are such things as best practices for stream crossings and skidding trails. These are important but have already been well developed by others.

This set of guidelines takes as its primary focus a series of broad, landscape-level considerations which have been absent from most sets of forest guidelines. The emphasis of these guidelines is on activities on crown and freehold licences.

Private woodlot management often exists at smaller scales such that larger-scale issues of connectivity, minimum patch size, and mature provisions are more difficult to achieve. Many of the principles still apply to private woodlots, particularly those stand level considerations that can be implemented on a smaller scale.

We consider these guidelines to be a work in progress and they are open to comments, revisions and future modifications. Their formulation has been a collaborative effort between scientists and managers from various levels of government, several universities and private industry. A list of contact addresses and contributors is provided in Appendix 4 of this document.

We have developed these guidelines in good faith, with a recognition of the importance of the forest industry to New Brunswick and a belief that forest harvest and biodiversity conservation can co-exist in the same landscape.

- The Editors
Pileated Woodpecker is a species
dependent on large, old trees
for nesting and feeding
(Photo: Parks Canada)

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Information provided by:
Dr. Graham Forbes
Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management at UNB