The Department of Fisheries and Land Resources is working on a number of forest research initiatives that focus on new commercial opportunities and continued sustainable forest ecosystem management initiatives.

These initiatives include:

• Collaborating with Memorial University, Grenfell Campus and various universities and private organizations in Canada to develop biofuels and bio-materials which, when extracted from wood fibre, show potential to be used as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels;
• Partnering with academia and the private sector in an application to the Federal Clean Growth Program which, if successful, will result in making these materials commercially available;
• Engaging in a number of forest ecosystem research projects, such as a tree improvement program to collect seed from superior stock and use it to generate planting stock. After several decades of research, seedlings are being produced that will result in plantations with significantly higher yields than naturally regenerated tree stands to reduce harvesting costs;
• articipating in research related to an early intervention strategy to slow or prevent outbreaks of the eastern spruce budworm – a major forest pest in eastern Canada. Populations and damage from this pest have been on the rise in other parts of eastern Canada in the last 10 years;
• Participating in the Healthy Forest Partnership – a group comprising researchers, academia, government and industry working together to gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to rising spruce budworm populations and to find ways to keep populations at low levels; and
• In 2018 the department also supported six spruce budworm research projects aimed at improving our understanding of spruce budworm population dynamics and our ability to monitor and manage this damaging forest pest.

Newfoundland and Labrador is observing National Forest Week, September 23 to 29. This year’s theme is Research Forests: Canada’s Living Laboratories. Supporting research and growth delivers on commitments in The Way Forward to diversify the province’s forestry sector and achieve a 20 per cent increase in timber allocations and harvest levels over the previous five-year period by 2020. The Way Forward outlines all actions the Provincial Government is taking to achieve a strong, diversified province with a high standard of living, and can be viewed at thewayforward.gov.nl.ca

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“The Provincial Government is involved in a range of exciting forest ecosystem research projects balanced with new, potential commercial opportunities, such as technological advances in biofuels and bio-material. Displacing fossil fuels for heat is not only good for the environment, but also for economic growth. These and other initiatives will increase our knowledge of climate change, biodiversity, forest management, and best practices, and ultimately contribute to healthy, productive forests and economic opportunities for Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Honourable Gerry Byrne
Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources

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Learn More

The Way Forward on Diversifying the Forest Sector

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Media contact
Linda Skinner
Fisheries and Land Resources
709-637-2284, 632-8167
lindaskinner@gov.nl.ca