Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic Canada THE GPI FOREST ACCOUNTS FOR NOVA SCOTIA Halifax, December 7, 2001

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Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic CanadaTHE
GPI FOREST ACCOUNTS FOR NOVA SCOTIAHalifax,
December 7, 2001
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What kind of world are we leaving to our children?

• Less fish in the oceans
• Fewer old forests
• Depleted soils
• Fewer species of animals and plants
• A dangerously warming world
• Is this progress?

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Are we sending the wrong message?

• Crime, pollution, sickness, greenhouse gases can
  make economy grow.
• Longer work hours and stress make it grow
• Distribution of income ignored

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GDP and Natural Capital

• GDP counts resource depletion as economic gain
  the more trees we cut, the more fish we sell, the
  faster we deplete our natural wealth the more
  the economy will grow, and the better off we
  are assumed to be.
• Like factory owner selling machinery

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In the Genuine Progress Index

• Crime, pollution, sickness, greenhouse gas
  emissions, counted as costs not gain
• Unpaid work, equity, free time valued
• Natural resources are seen as capital assets
  subject to depreciation and requiring
  re-investment.

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GPI Natural Resource Accounts Valuing Natural
Capital

• For example, forest functions / values include
• Preventing soil erosion and nutrient leaching
• Protecting water quality and flows
• Climate regulation/carbon sequestration
• Providing habitat for the full array of native
  biodiversity
• Recreation, tourism, aesthetic quality
• Providing timber
• Healthy Forest

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Annual harvest, 1981-2000Millions of cubic metres
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Provincial Area (hectares) of Clearcut Harvest
and Silviculture (000s seedlings), Nova Scotia
1975-1997
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Natural Age Limits Maritime tree species

• White Ash 100-200
• American Beech 300-400
• White Birch 120-150
• Yellow Birch 150-250
• Eastn Hemlock 300-800
• Red Maple 100-150
• Sugar Maple 300-400

• Red Oak 200-350
• Red Pine 200-250
• White Pine 200-450
• Black Spruce 200-250
• Red Spruce 250-400
• White Spruce 150-200

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Total forest area by age class, Nova Scotia and
Algonquin Park
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Old Forests Store More Carbon A new study
published in Science, reported that ...
replacing old-growth forest by young stands ...
will lead to massive carbon losses to the
atmosphere mainly by replacing a large pool with
a minute pool of regrowth and by reducing the
flux into a permanent pool of soil organic
matter. (Schulze et. al. 2000)
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Recreational Brook Trout Caught and Retained in
Nova Scotia 1975-1995
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Minimum tree diameters for cavity-using wildlife
species of the Maritimes
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Species vulnerable to clearcutting

• Rare calicioid lichens absent from harvested
  stands (Selva 2001)
• Four plant species found only in coastal old
  growth spruce forests (Moola and Vasseur 2001)
• Northern and southern flying squirrels (Vernes
  2001 Gerrow 1996)
• Moose (Snaith 2001)
• Marten, fisher, and lynx
• Trout (OBrien 1995)
• Wood turtle (Herman 2001)
• Red-backed and yellow-spotted salamanders, spring
  peepers, and wood frogs (Waldick and Freedman
  1999)

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• All hawks, especially goshawks, and broad-winged
  and red-tailed hawks (Staicier 2001 Gosse and
  Montevecchi 2001 Beaudette 2000)
• Bicknells, Swainsons and Gray-cheeked thrushes
  (Rimmer 2001 Deal 1993 Thompson and Montevecchi
  1999)
• Warblers Northern parula, Blackburnian,
  Tennessee, Magnolia, Bay-breasted, Black-throated
  green, Black-throated blue, Blackpoll, Black and
  white (Staicier 2001 Hobson and Bayne 2000
  Darveau et al. 1995 Deal 1993)
• Pileated and black-backed woodpeckers, and
  yellow-bellied sapsuckers
• Other birds Ovenbirds, Eastern wood-pewee,
  Red-eyed vireo, White-breasted nuthatch, Least
  flycatcher, Brown creeper
• Arthropods (Kehler et al. 1996 Winchester and
  Ring 1996)

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Hardwood content vs. predicted budworm damage
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Global Valuation of Non-Timber Forest Ecosystem
Goods and Services applied to Nova Scotia Forest
Area(Costanza et al. 1997)
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Examples of Retail Prices for Varying Dimension
White Pine (Jan. 2001 prices)
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Examples of Retail Prices for Varying Dimension
Spruce(Jan. 2001 prices)
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Examples of Retail Prices for Clear vs. Knotty
White Pine(Jan. 2001 prices)
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U.S. Employment Created by Various Timber Products
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Value-added in the forest sector by province
Province Total roundwood harvested in 1997 (cubic meters) Value-added (per volume wood harvested)
NFLD 2,558,000 144
PEI 514,000 36
NS 6,568,223 82
NB 11,253,000 123
QC 42,546,000 204
ON 26,595,000 273
MAN 2,183,000 187
SASK 4,205,000 52
ALTA 22,217,000 88
BC 69,298,000 110
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Machinery Costs for Large-Scale Harvesting
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Clearcut harvesting and loss of natural age and
species diversity have resulted in loss of

• valuable tree species
• wide diameter and clear lumber that fetch premium
  market prices
• resilience and resistance to insect infestation
• wildlife sensitive to forest fragmentation and
  forest conversion
• forest recreation and tourism opportunities

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This represents a substantial depreciation of a
valuable natural capital asset.

• degraded water quality and created unstable
  hydrological regimes
• soil degradation and the leaching of nutrients
  that can affect future timber productivity
• a substantial decline in carbon storage capacity
  a decline in other essential forest ecosystem
  services.

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The Good News Volume 2 Best Forestry Practices
in N. S.

• Selection harvesting increases forest value and
  provides more jobs
• Shift to value-added creates more jobs
• Restoration forestry is a good investment
• What incentives can encourage restoration

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Costs of Restoration

• Pictou Landing 110/ha/yr
• Frith 35/ha/yr
• Dreschers estimates 80-150/ha/yr
• Menominee Forest Enterprises 750-1,500/ha/yr
• Algonquin Park 0.00

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