Sustainable development and climate change

							Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation and Linkages with Sustainable
Development (AMSD):

Opportunities for Case Study Initiatives Targeting Forestry and
Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) in Quesnel



Notes from the brainstorming session, 14th February 2006, 9 am
(session agenda at end of document)
Livia Bizikova and Stewart Cohen

The notes are grouped according to the following themes:
   1. Linkages between sustainable forest management and sustainable community
       development
   2. Role of climate change in local development strategies
   3. Placing forestry and implication of MPB in the centre of local development
   4. Dialog between stakeholders and role of the public in defining development path
   5. Cross-cutting theme: multiple tenure system


Discussed issues in the themes:
   1. Linkages between sustainable forest management and sustainable community
       development
                    Did sustainable forest management policy affect Annual Allowable
                       Cut (AAC)?
                    Literature shows change from previous management strategy to
                       current multi-objective strategy
                    Forestry is based on long term rotations; used to thinking in
                       decadal terms; other cases focused on more short term time scales
                    Change from sustained yield management to sustainable forest
                       management
                    But what is sustainable forest management? Does this equate to
                       sustainable community development in forest regions?
                    Is there convergence between community planning and forest
                       management? Can forest industry become carbon-neutral (i.e.
                       run/operate on its own fuel)? E.g. TEMBEC

                         In Quesnel, there is a forest-dependent community/region; if there is
                         MPB, the important development issue is on how to plan for
                         restoration to include all other objectives, including climate change


______________________                                                                           1
Livia Bizikova and Stewart Cohen
Adaptation & Impacts Research Division (AIRD), Environment Canada
Institute for Resources Environment & Sustainability (IRES), UBC
2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 CANADA
 tel: 1-604-822-1685 fax: 1-604-822-9250, email: lbizikova@ires.ubc.ca, scohen@ires.ubc.ca
    2. Role of climate change in local development strategies
        Long-term forestry plans do not directly include climate change impacts,
          however, climate change could significantly influence forest management
        Sustainability of forestry without climate change e.g. softwood issues,
          competition from other markets—could there be other development paths
          possible here?
        Important interaction between climate change and forestry (growth and yield,
          fire risk, shifting biogeoclimatic zones, etc.)
        Current long term restoration plans do not include climate change
        What is the role of carbon sequestration? Is there a need for adaptation to
          climate change with timber yield as the highest priority, or are other priorities
          more important?
        Biomass sequestration should be very effective for enabling managed forests
          to become carbon neutral (or a net sink)
        Carbon sequestration has been talked about, but not integrated into broader
          forest management plans
        Current stage is beginning to include community planning with forestry – the
          next step is to include long term impacts prediction of climate change (which
          is beginning to happen), but very little mitigative work has been done


              Quesnel is interesting study area, but when discussing development options
              related to forest planning, climate change must be included; question is
              whether to start from forest planning perspective, or SD perspective?


    3. Placing forestry and implication of MPB in the centre of local development
        How does MPB expansion affect dialogue on future development paths?
          Short-term response is pushing low cost harvesting and export; and what are
          the long-term implications?
        What if region adapted by leaving dead wood on the ground? This means no
          additional logging activity; a middle path; mixed effects on decomposition
          and release of carbon either from soil or decaying wood
        But how has variability in natural and economic conditions been managed?
          Will current short-term strategy create greater dependency by local
          communities? This is an illustration of constant demand for product from a
          variable source of supply
        What are the impacts of increased wood availability and related increase in
          processing industry on local communities in terms of employment structure or
          income generation? What does the higher dependence on forest industry mean
          for the future development of the communities?
        Impacts of the tenure system by requesting local sawmills in each TSA/TFL

______________________                                                                       2
Livia Bizikova and Stewart Cohen
Adaptation & Impacts Research Division (AIRD), Environment Canada
Institute for Resources Environment & Sustainability (IRES), UBC
2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 CANADA
 tel: 1-604-822-1685 fax: 1-604-822-9250, email: lbizikova@ires.ubc.ca, scohen@ires.ubc.ca
             Good place to begin structuring the problem: we have stable demand from
              fluctuating resources

Strategic forest planning involves long-term planning and community development, but
now, because of MPB, we have the problem of planning for restoration that includes
different objectives including climate change.


    4. Dialog between stakeholders and role of the public in defining development path
        What are the criteria that drive the decisions about climate change adaptation?
        Not much dialogue between tenure holders and regional districts
        Each area has a local political coalition to try to program community futures
          e.g. Cariboo coalition—how do they see their needs?
        How do perception issues influence future restoration strategies?
        Dialog between industry, community and government is needed to get
          different perspectives on strategies for reforestation
        How viable are economic and ecological management strategies to the public?
          (Michael Meitner): role of visualization
        Shift in public acceptance post MPB and fire
        Strong desire to reduce timber waste, reduce clear cuts
        Perception that overuse of debris spells doom for ecosystems; concern about
          too much harvesting of debris for biofuels—what is the threshold for this?

  How does MPB expansion affect dialogue and public perception on future development
  paths?


    5. Cross-cutting theme: multiple tenure system
        Strategies addressing the linkages between the MBP management issues and
          development strategies need to include the multiple tenure management
          system; Tenure system will be part of the SD dialogue;
        Are there any impacts of the tenure system on increasing/decreasing
          vulnerability to climate change?
        How does the tenure system affect the reforestation in the Quesnel region?
        How effectively can the tenure system address changes needed because of
          climate change?

    Multiple tenure system needs to part of the dialogue about local sustainable
    development strategies and needs to be link to climate change adaptation and
    mitigation measures.




______________________                                                                       3
Livia Bizikova and Stewart Cohen
Adaptation & Impacts Research Division (AIRD), Environment Canada
Institute for Resources Environment & Sustainability (IRES), UBC
2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 CANADA
 tel: 1-604-822-1685 fax: 1-604-822-9250, email: lbizikova@ires.ubc.ca, scohen@ires.ubc.ca
Annex

List of Participants

Stephen Shepherd (Department of Forest Resources Management);
Michael Feller (Department of Forest Sciences);
Clive Welham (Forest Ecosystem Management Simulation Group);
 Robin Sydney-Smith (Coordinator of C-CIARN-BC);
Emina Krcmar (The Forest Economics and Policy Analysis Research Unit, FEPA);
John McLean (Department of Forest Sciences, UBC).

Livia Bizikova (AIRD, IRES);
Stewart Cohen (AIRD, IRES);
Tina Neale (AIRD, IRES);
Hadi Dowlatabadi (IRES);
Yin Yongyuan (AIRD, IRES);
Sarah Burch (IRES).



Agenda

    1. Introduction of the participants

    2. Presentation of framework linking climate change adaptation, mitigation and
       sustainable development (described in the background document)

    3. Short overview on how the topics for case studies were developed

    4. Brainstorming about potential issues and projects that can use AMSD in each case
       study

    5. Deciding about the presenter, who will present the outcomes of the meeting in the
       workshop (19. – 21. April, Vancouver)

    6. Sum-up and closure




______________________                                                                       4
Livia Bizikova and Stewart Cohen
Adaptation & Impacts Research Division (AIRD), Environment Canada
Institute for Resources Environment & Sustainability (IRES), UBC
2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 CANADA
 tel: 1-604-822-1685 fax: 1-604-822-9250, email: lbizikova@ires.ubc.ca, scohen@ires.ubc.ca