Forestry

The rich and biodiverse Wabanaki-Acadian forest that once flourished on mainland Nova Scotia, with 60 species of trees and an amazing abundance of other plants and lichens, mammals and birds, reptiles and fish, has suffered enormously since colonization of Mi’kma’ki. Today many of those species are at risk or endangered and it is estimated that less than 1% of the remaining forest is old growth.

The Wabanaki-Acadian forest ecosystem with its rich mix of conifers and hardwoods has been replaced in many places by monoculture tree plantations, following decades of high-grading (cutting the best and leaving the rest), and forestry practices designed by and for the pulp and paper industry – clearcutting, monoculture plantations of pulp species such as spruce, herbicide spraying, repeat.

Generations of people concerned about these unsustainable practices in Nova Scotia (and beyond) have tried in vain to convince successive governments to adopt far more sustainable forest management regimes, including agroecological forestry to allow the Wabanaki-Acadian forest to regenerate, dramatically reducing and regulating clearcutting and banning herbicide spraying, and protection of large areas of woodlands to protect biodiversity, wetlands, and watersheds.

Despite many setbacks and the ongoing serious degradation of woodlands in Nova Scotia, many citizen scientists, concerned forestry professionals and academics, and non-governmental organizations continue to struggle to preserve and protect what remains of the precious forests in the province. 

Here is the proposal to protect Goldsmith Lake and its old growth and mature forests.