DUCKS UNLIMITED CANADA

Development of best practices for forestry road design and construction around wetlands

Project Overview

Ducks Unlimited Canada, in partnership with Louisiana Pacific Canada Ltd. and FPInnovations, will receive a total of $180,000 over three years, beginning in 2011, to determine best practices for planning and building forestry roads that protect wetland ecosystems in the western boreal forest.

Supporting the SFI Standard

The project will support a number of the SFI 2010-2014 Standard objectives, including Objective 1, which requires forest management planning “to ensure long-term forest productivity and yield based on the use of the best scientific information available”; Objective 3 “Protection and Maintenance of Water Resources – indicator 3.2.4 identification and protection of non-forested wetlands, including bogs, fens, marshes and vernal poles of ecological significance”; and Objective 4 Conservation of Biological Diversity including Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value. It will advance knowledge, meeting Objective 10: Adherence to Best Management Practices – to broaden the practice of sustainable forestry through the use of best management practices to protect water quality; Objective 15: to support forestry research, science and technology, including financial or in-kind support; Objective 16 “to improve the implementation of sustainable forestry practices through appropriate training and education programs”; and Objective 20, which calls for promotion of continual improvement in the practice of sustainable forestry.

Project Partners

Ducks Unlimited Canada, Louisiana-Pacific Canada, a certified SFI program participant, and the Forest Operations division of FPInnovations, the world’s largest private, not-for-profit forest research institute.

Project Details

Ducks Unlimited Canada biologists, wetland ecologists and GIS specialists will share their expert knowledge about boreal wetlands with forestry professionals, and then work with them to identify boreal wetland ecosystems and test ways to plan around and build forest roads that maintain the unique ecological characteristics and functions of different classes of boreal wetlands.

The project will identify existing or develop new best management practices most compatible with minimizing impacts on the different wetland types found in the western boreal forest. The results will be field tested, and the knowledge transferred back to project partners with the intent to provide information to modify planning and construction techniques as needed. During key stages of implementation, government representatives responsible for forest practices will be consulted regarding the feasibility of integrating recommendations into forest operations guidelines.

News

Sustainable Forestry Group Supports Wetland ResearchOutdoor Canada
April 20, 2011

SFI Conservation Grant Supports Ducks Unlimited Wetland Research
Press Release – April 6, 2011

Project Resources

Project Overview PDF

About Ducks Unlimited Canada

Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is a private, non-profit, habitat conservation organization founded in 1938. Ducks Unlimited Canada works with private landowners, governments and industry to conserve, restore and manage wetlands and associated habitats across all regions of Canada. In 2009, Ducks Unlimited Canada and Louisiana-Pacific Canada (Swan River Forest Resources Division) received an SFI Leadership in Conservation Research award for activities leading to long-term conservation of important wetlands and watersheds in west-central Manitoba.

About Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd.

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) is one of the leading manufacturers and distributors of premium building products in North America. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, LP produces building products that are manufactured at facilities throughout the United States, Canada and Chile. Natural resources are critical to LP, and good environmental stewardship is vital to the strength, profitability and sustainability of the company and the communities where it operates.

About FPInnovations

FPInnovations is a world leader that specializes in the creation of scientific solutions in support of the Canadian forest sector’s global competitiveness, and responds to the priority needs of its industrial and government members.