Nova Scotia Forestry Innovation Transition Trust Investing $9.8 Million in the Family Forest Network

Established following the closure of the Northern Pulp Mill in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia in January 2020, the Nova Scotia Forestry Innovation Transition Trust recently announced that it is investing $9.8 million (CAD) in the Family Forest Network (FFN) for a five-year pilot project. It will focus on ecologically sensitive forest treatments on 200 small private wood lots in the province.

According to CBC News, the project will help make loggers more comfortable with an approach in the Lahey review of forestry practices, which called for a reduction of clear cutting on Crown Land. Andy Kekacs, a member of the FFN’ steering committee, told CBC “This is a departure from the practices of the last 50 years and a move toward saying that we can do economically viable forestry that also considers other values and protects them in the process of creating some income.”

Another $2.6 million was announced for the industry-led Forestry Economic Task Force, which plans to spend the next two years building a plan considering new economic opportunities for the industry. The task force will specifically focus on how wood products could replace other products, such as petroleum, and work to understand how opportunities would work in the context of Nova Scotia’s wood supply, capacity, workforce, and social concerns.