The Contribution of Managed Forests in Canada to Biodiversity: How Forest Management Plays an Active Role (WP-20-04)
Forest management influences biodiversity at multiple scales, from the harvested area up to the broader landscape. Decades of research and monitoring within actively managed forests have greatly improved our understanding of how biodiversity responds to contemporary, sustainable forest management. Management tools and practices are used by land managers to consider a wide range of species responses, along with site and landscape variability, to help improve or maintain biodiversity across multiple species within forested ecosystems. A managed forest landscape contains a variety of stand structures and ages, forest types, and set-asides (e.g., buffers, mature forests) that provide habitat for a variety of terrestrial and aquatic species. In Canada, federal, provincial, and territorial regulations, voluntary best management practices, and third-party forest certification programs guide active forest management and have led to advances in expertise, technology, and implementation of strategies to minimize the potential negative effects of forest management on ecosystem services, while helping the industry better understand potential trade-offs and opportunities for synergies. In addition, these advances have helped the industry identify opportunities for enhancing biodiversity through active forest management.