Clayoquot Sound: Lessons in ecosystem-based management implementation from an industry perspective

Abstract

In 1995, the Clayoquot Sound Scientific Panel submitted a report with 170 recommendations that fundamentally changed forest management as it had been traditionally practiced in the Sound. The Scientific Panel's report represents an early case study of ecosystem-based management (EBM) implementation. The recommendations were adopted by industry, government, and other participants with hopes that this would end the vociferous conflicts that had come to characterize Clayoquot Sound. British Columbia's Provincial government was committed to working with industry, First Nations, forest workers, and local communities to make the changes happen. However, the implementation was not accomplished easily or cheaply, and it was not an unmitigated success, at least from the perspective of industry. In addition to summarizing the history of the process, this article discusses outcomes of EBM implementation in Clayoquot Sound in terms of planning for environmental values before timber, using ecological rather than administrative boundaries, and engaging participants early and throughout the planning process. With emphasis on implications from an industry perspective, the authors recommend approaches that balance the strengths and challenges inherent in ecosystem-based management in British Columbia.

“Everything We Do, It's Cedar”: First Nation and Ecologically-Based Forester Land Management Philosophies in Coastal British Columbia

“…Indigenous Peoples, long-time residents of particular places, acknowledge that their physical, spiritual, mental, and social health depends on the ability to practice Both historically and today, First Nations' close relationships with nature are foundational to how they interact with their environments (Kimmerer 2013;Salmón 2000;Turner 2005Turner , 2008. There is a commonality among Indigenous Peoples in the world where they generally see themselves to be inextricably connected BC government agencies away from clearcutting to a middle-ground approach, employing a variable-retention silviculture system (Affolderbach et al 2012;Butt and McMillan 2009;Clayoquot Scientific Panel 1995;McGee et al 2010;Price et al 2009). These are two large-scale projects, but ecosystem-based initiatives are expressed in a range of contexts; these perspectives are most strongly seen in a smaller group of ecologically-oriented researchers and practitioners, some of whom have been leaders in the development of ecosystem-based thinking in BC (Hammond 1991(Hammond , 2009Fedrowitz et al 2014;Gustafsson et al 2012;Lindenmayer et al 2012).…”

“…Concerns regarding forest sustainability in BC continue to challenge industrial forestry methods, namely clear-cutting, and demand the valuation of forest ecosystems over timber production (Burda et al 1998;Butt and McMillan 2009). EBM is a worldwide movement that values the preservation and conservation of native ecosystems and their inherent complexity over product yield and short-term profit; it aims to support ecosystems to self-maintain and self-order while still accommodating human use and occupancy (Burda et al 1998;Christensen et al 1996;Drengson and Taylor 1997;Grumbine 1994).…”

“…It recognizes social-ecological systems are ever-changing and adaptive, and, as such, our strategies for managing them should be as well (Biggs et al 2012; Clayoquot Scientific Panel 1995). In forest ecosystems, EBM aims to minimize soil disturbance, road densities, and damage to retained trees and forest structures (e.g., nurse logs and snags;Clayoquot Scientific Panel 1995), and it often supports the involvement of local governments and Indigenous communities (Butt and McMillan 2009).…”

“…In BC, EBM was first substantially implemented around 2005 at a large scale in the Clayoquot Sound (260,000 ha; Clayoquot Scientific Panel 1995) and the Great Bear Rainforest (6.4 million ha; McGee et al 2010). Both regions are landmark cases to demonstrate how EBM values pushed BC government agencies away from clearcutting to a middle-ground approach, employing a variable-retention silviculture system (Affolderbach et al 2012; Butt and McMillan 2009; Clayoquot Scientific Panel 1995; McGee et al 2010; Price et al 2009). These are two large-scale projects, but ecosystem-based initiatives are expressed in a range of contexts; these perspectives are most strongly seen in a smaller group of ecologically-oriented researchers and practitioners, some of whom have been leaders in the development of ecosystem-based thinking in BC (Hammond 1991, 2009; Fedrowitz et al 2014; Gustafsson et al 2012; Lindenmayer et al 2012).…”