triad zoning in northern ontario and woodland caribou conservation: a critical review
abstract
woodland caribou in ontario are threatened, posing a conflict between habitat
and timber supply for forest areas. the current management practices with dynamic
caribou habitat schedules (dchs) address long-term habitat supply, relying on caribou
to reinhabit harvested areas while lacking evidence of this and failing to address current
demand for critical habitat protection. meanwhile, ontario’s forest industry has been
experiencing various other challenges including decreasing wood supply, increasing
road distances and costs, decreasing wood quality, greater public pressure to provide a
wide array of ecosystem services, and more. ontario’s shift to a sustainable forest
management paradigm has continued to consider wood supply above environmental and
social values. cumulatively, these have caused pressure to apply an alternative
management solution to current extensive practices that can better meet multiple
objectives. triad forest management divides the forest into three zones with designated
uses and objectives with a wood production, ecosystem management, and conservation
zone. this has the potential when properly planned to improve wood supply and quality,
reduce road distances and costs, maintain ecosystem services, provide critical caribou
habitat, and more. though there are various challenges with employing a zoning
method, a balanced approach between current management by using a dchs with triad
zoning could alleviate these while improving environmental, economic, and social
sustainability.
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- undergraduate theses [325]