Monday, January 14, 2013

State of Ontario's Forests Report released

According to a news release posted on http://www.woodbusiness.ca/industry-news/state-of-ontarios-forests-report-released

The Ministry of Natural Resources recently released The State of Ontario's Forests Report, (April 2004 to March 2009) and not surprisingly it reflects the recession the forest industry experienced during the period.

Produced every five years, the report highlighted the major economic downturn the forest sector experienced, including:
• Annual harvesting levels dropped by 10 million cubic metres (43%) over the five-year period;
• While employment levels increased from 2001-2004, forest sector jobs were lost at an average rate of 11% per year from 2001-2006; and
• Estimated operating surpluses (a measure of profitability) decreased by approximately $1.1 billion (57%) in the wood products sector and $814 million (29%) in the paper manufacturing sector over the five-year period.

This is Ontario's third State of the Forest Report. The reporting period for the report is April 2004 to March 2009.  This legally mandated report describes Ontario's forests and forest management, based on a criteria and indicators framework for sustainable forestry. Criteria reflect provincial forest sustainability goals and are designed to reflect public values and desired long-term outcomes for Ontario's forests. Indicators are specific measures used to assess progress towards the achievement of forest sustainability goals and objectives.

The latest State of Ontario's Forests report is comprised of a feature report and a supporting Criteria & Indicators interactive PDF. The feature report focuses on specific themes (state of the forest sector, biodiversity, forest health, and climate change) and provides a high-level summary of the Criteria & Indicators framework.

The official site for the State of the Forest Report is: http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Forests/2ColumnSubPage/STDPROD_101854.html
The Report can be downloaded from: http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@forests/documents/document/stdprod_101907.pdf

And the interactive Criteria and Indicators PDF can be downloaded from: http://www.web2.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/forests/public/publications/SOF_2011/toc_main.pdf