feasibility of community forestry in northern ontario : a socio-economic and biophysical evaluation framework
abstract
community forestry has become a much-discussed form of
forest land tenure and management in northern ontario. it
is a viable approach to community economic development
especially among communities that are dependent on the
forest sector. this study is a broadly-based investigation
of the socio-economic and biophysical factors that give
communities an inherently high potential for success in new
community forestry ventures. the factors identified herein
have been arranged into a framework which i propose
government can identify those communities where community
forestry may have a high chance of succeeding. the factors
attributing to the success of the north cowichan community
forest in british columbia have been presented for
comparative purposes. a total of 15 variables have been
examined in this study. this study area covers sections of
ontario ministry of natural resources’ (omnr) former
northern, north central, and northeastern regions of
ontario, altogether encompassing 22 communities. based on
the results of the study, the communities of nipigon,
geraldton, hearst, wawa, and marathon would be excellent
candidates for pilot projects or in-depth feasibility
studies on community forestry. the second group of
communities that may be considered are terrace bay, white
river, and red rock. i conclude that community forestry is
a viable option for forest land tenure and management in
some communities (with high inherent success potential) in
northern ontario.
collections
- retrospective theses [1604]