Assessing forest management scenarios on an Aboriginal territory through simulation modeling

Abstract

The dominant management strategy in boreal forests-aggregated clearcuts (AC)-faces increased criticism by various stakeholders, including Aboriginal people. Two alternative strategies have been proposed: dispersed clearcuts (DC) and ecosystem-based management (EM). We modelled the long-term and landscape-scale effects of AC, DC, and EM on a set of indicators of sustainable forest management relevant to an Aboriginal community's values: (1) forest age structure; (2) spatial configuration of forest stands; (3) road network density; and, (4) forest habitat loss to clearcuts. EM created a forest age structure closer to what would result from a natural disturbance regime, compared to AC and DC. Cut blocks were more evenly distributed with EM and DC. The road network density was lower and increased slower with EM, thus reducing the potential for conflicts between forest users. Under EM, a higher forest cover was maintained (and thus potential wildlife habitat) than in AC or DC. The EM scenario provided the best outcome based on the four measured indicators, partly because the constraints imposed on the modeling exercise led it to harvest less than the other scenarios. Annual allowable cut should thus be a key factor to consider to ensuring better compliance with Aboriginal criteria of sustainable forest management.Key words: modeling; landscape; Indigenous people; forest management; social acceptability RÉSUMÉ La principale stratégie d'aménagement en forêt boréale-les coupes agglomérées (CA)-est de plus en plus critiquée par plusieurs parties prenantes, incluant les peuples autochtones. Deux stratégies alternatives ont été proposées : les coupes dispersées (CD) et l'aménagement écosystémique (AE). Nous avons modélisé les effets à long terme et à l' échelle du paysage de CA, CD et AE sur un ensemble d'indicateurs d'aménagement forestier durable liés aux valeurs d'une communauté autochtone : (1) la structure d'âge de la forêt; (2) la configuration spatiale des peuplements forestiers; (3) la densité du réseau routier; et, (4) la perte d'habitat forestier due aux coupes totales. AE a créé une structure d'âge plus proche de celle qui résulterait d'un régime naturel de perturbations, comparativement à CA et CD. Les blocs de coupe étaient répartis plus uniformément sur le territoire avec AE et CD. Le réseau routier était moins étendu et se développait moins vite avec AE, réduisant ainsi le potentiel de conflits entre usagers de la forêt. AE a aussi maintenu plus de couvert forestier (et donc plus d'habitat faunique potentiel) que CA ou CD. Le scenario AE a obtenu de meilleurs scores pour les quatre indicateurs mesurés, en partie parce que les contraintes imposées à l' exercice de modélisation ont résulté en moins de coupes que dans les autres scénarios. La possibilité forestière annuelle devrait par conséquent être un facteur clé à considérer pour assurer une meilleure conformité aux critères autochtones d'aménagement forestier durable.

Preserving Ecosystem Services on Indigenous Territory through Restoration and Management of a Cultural Keystone Species

“…Ecological types supporting all scenarios are fairly evenly distributed among family hunting grounds, thus meeting a request by the Kitcisakik people that benefits and disadvantages of forest management should be equitably distributed [82]. Ecological types supporting scenarios I and II are relatively abundant and represent 44% and 52%, respectively, of productive forest stands on Kitcisakik territory.…”

Three‐dimensional virtual VR technology in environmental art design

“…Life cycle means that plants are objects with life. It is also very important to express the vitality of landscape plants in landscape architecture animation 24 . The number of simulated plant morphological species is the simulated plant species and plant planting forms, such as single plant, group plant, and plant community. Usage As the same as the evaluation index of VR implementation method, the use degree is restricted by two factors: the degree of difficulty to master and the degree of openness.…”