From: Forestry Maps <ForestryMaps@novascotia.ca>
Date: Thu, Aug 1, 2024 at 4:23 PM
Subject: Harvest Plan Map Viewer – Outcomes-Based Forestry Posting – Message to Email Subscribers – Thursday, August 1, 2024
To: Forestry Maps <ForestryMaps@novascotia.ca>
Today, August 1, 2024, the Harvest Plans Map Viewer was updated to include 5 years’ worth of proposed harvest plans for a pilot project using the outcomes-based forestry approach.
Outcomes-based forestry is a type of forest management that is focused on results. Using this model, forestry companies are given a set of outcomes that they must achieve. It is part of the shift to ecological forestry on Crown as recommended in the Forest Practices Review (2018). For further information on outcomes-based forestry, please visit: Ecological forestry – Nova Scotia.
Port Hawkesbury Paper is partnering with the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables on this pilot project. It is taking place in the Cape Breton Highlands (ecodistrict 210) starting in 2024. It will run for 5 years. The pilot area is represented by pink/rose symbology on map.
The posting of the 5-year Development Plan includes 4 areas of change:
1. The posting includes plans proposed for harvest over the next 5-year period. Harvesting of these plans will take place over a 5-year period, not in a single year.
2. The licensee (Port Hawkesbury Paper) will be responding to any questions or requests for more information about the proposed harvests instead of the department. This ensures licensees are accountable for their development plans.
3. Harvest prescriptions are not available because the 5-year plan needs to be flexible to meet required outcomes. Practices described in the Silvicultural Guide to the Ecological Matrix, or other documents, will continue to serve as a guide to achieve the desired outcomes.
4. Pre-Treatment Assessments (PTAs) are not available through Harvest Plans Map Viewer for the pilot project. The licensee will still be required to evaluate forest conditions and document the basis for treatment decisions.
Forestry Maps
Department of Natural Resources and Renewables
https://nsgi.novascotia.ca/hpmv/ (HPMV website)