HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's forest industry says its clearcutting practices are being unfairly cast as the culprit in a recent report on the loss of forested land in the province.
Global Forest Watch Canada released a report on Thursday indicating that Nova Scotia lost 12 per cent of its forest in 17 years - an area roughly equal to half the area of Cape Breton island.
Steve Talbot, executive director of Forest Products Association of Nova Scotia, says the report should have noted that some of the land loss wasn't due to forestry.
"Forest operations are a part of that but they're certainly not the (overriding) cause of those changes," he said.
Talbot's association acts on behalf of its members, which include the pulp and paper industry, maple sugar producers, Christmas tree growers and sawmill operators.
Talbot said that some of the forest has been taken away to make room for developments like parking lots and highways, or as a result of the cleanup required after hurricane Juan swept through the province in September 2003.
Ryan Cheng, who worked on the Global Forest Watch report, said that external factors like the hurricane did cause some of the changes and this information is included in the report but the amount of change due to forestry is still a concern.
"It is a concern because certain species require intact forests for their best survival," said Cheng. "It is significant that this amount of landscape can change, especially this quickly, when in other forest management zones across Canada it is much lower."
Chris Miller, national manager for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, said, "the majority of the (human impact on forests) is associated with clearcutting in Nova Scotia. That's objective analysis and it's substantiated through satellite imagery analysis."
Discussions about the province's forest industry have already started. The Department of Natural Resources is working on a natural resources strategy, due for completion in March 2010.
The strategy aims to change some of the policies affecting the province's major natural resources: minerals, forests, biodiversity and parks.
Natural Resources Minister John MacDonell confirmed that both he and the panel are working on the strategic plan and will be looking at the Global Forest Watch report.
Talbot said he thinks there is a place for change in the forest industry and he wants it to remain viable.
He said his association is working with the Ecology Action Centre and the Association for Sustainable Forestry to educate the 31,000 woodlot owners in the province.
"I think education is really what's lacking. I think people have to realize that if you have a particular piece of woodlot, clearcutting may or may not be the best means of managing that particular woodlot."
