The forestry industry is not buying enough seedlings to keep Ontario nurseries viable. That is the message from growers in the province who are being forced to diversify their products and seek buyers outside of the industry to stay in business.
Steady declines in contributions to the forest renewal trust, increased dependency on natural regeneration as a cost cutting measure and a lack of oversight by the government are all contributing to a crisis in forest renewal in Ontario according to concerned nursery owners.
At La Maison Verte in Hearst, Ontario, general manager Michelle Lamy says that tree seedling production is down about 80%. She says that SFLs are in a difficult situation and believes that given a very finite budget to work with, companies are doing the best they can with the limited funds available. Lamy says it’s up to the government to pick up the slack.
"The government should implement a stimulus program. When the industry is hurting so much there should be help to ensure a sustainable forest" Lamy said. "The government knows that there are less trees planted, I think it is their role to do something about it."
Lamy says La Maison Verte is fortunate to have loyal clients which have been with the nursery for 20 years but they are still in the process of diversifying their business and looking at long term solutions.
"We’re looking at energy plantations and we already have a vegetable production which we’re increasing in size and diversity. So we are looking at food and we are looking at energy. Part of it is to eventually become self sufficient in terms of energy that is our long term goal and we are hoping to expand that but that is a long term project."
"On the horizon right now it doesn’t look good we have no indication whatsoever that things will be better in the next year" Lamy said. "We’ve been told that we could have another bad year. Right now there is no light at the end of the tunnel, so we either do nothing or develop other products and that’s what we are working at."
Paul O’Neill, grower products manager for Beaver Plastics Ltd. in Edmonton points to research indicating that alternative regeneration practices such as natural regen and aerial seeding are ineffective and will not benefit the industry in the long term.
"These have been tried, tested and disproved in Canada, unless there is some break through to prove they work leave them alone. After the Roman Empire Fell apart they stopped using spoked wheels they moved to the more efficient heavy solid wheel" O’Neill said. "Forests are our renewable resources. It has been shown that natural regeneration after an event such as logging does not provide adequate regeneration. Regeneration of the forests for the future for carbon acquisition or use as a raw material is essential."
O’Neill says that the government needs to give forestry the same attention it gives to other vital sectors and recognize its importance to the country.
"The government needs to monitor our forests. They belong to the people of Canada, the government represents us. No different than water management, mining, fishing or other basics" O’Neill said. "The government monitored the Canadian Banks and I bet the banks are pleased they did as the pressure to change to the other styles of banking must have been tremendous."
Now is the time to position forestry for a sustainable and productive future, according to O’Neill.
"Houses get old, shoes wear out, and the world goes on. Now is not the time to give up but rather figure out where we will be in the future. Managing our forests now will provide a future" O’Neill said. "Canada is a world leading country; we need to invest in our future including education to allow us to compete on the world stage. We need to invest in our resources allowing Canada to supply the world tomorrow."
Kevin van Duyn of Hills Greenhouses in Murillo, Ontario, near Thunder Bay finds himself similarly reduced in terms of production and looking to diversifying his market.
"I’m operating at a quarter of my capacity; sales are half of what they were last year" van Duyn said. "Companies are cutting back and there is just too much greenhouse space available for the amount of seedlings that are being planted in Ontario. There are definitely areas that are not being planted that could be."
"I think there is definitely not enough funding available for someone to be able to purchase seedlings, do all the site prep work, plant them and do all the work associated with planting seedlings" van Duyn said.
"Trying to look at it from my customer’s perspective, there isn’t enough incentive for them to do a better job" van Duyn said. "They can’t afford to do a better job, maybe they could in some areas but it’s not being recognized, so why spend the extra money, especially now. It’s real hard for somebody to justify any expenditure right now."
The amount of mill closures and corporate bankruptcy in the past year has made an already complicated process particularly difficult for businesses like Hills Greenhouses.
"This year is an anomaly in terms of finding out in some cases whether certain lots of trees were actually going to be planted." Van Duyn said. "This is the first time this has happened where we really had to fight to make sure these trees were planted and not thrown out. A lot of businesses were relying on those trees to be planted and a lot of students relying on the income from those trees to pay for tuition. There are tons of people affected."
Joy Neill of Jellien Nurseries in Armstrong, Ontario think the government should be held responsible for the current state of silviculture in the province and it is up to them to ensure it gets back on track.
Neill says the forest companies and the MNR are using the industry downturn as a rational for a decrease in forest renewal programs. The nature of the business is that nurseries are always growing seedlings for a year or two down the road, so Neill says that nurseries shouldn’t be feeling the impact of the recession at this time.
"A lot of the companies didn’t keep their payments up in the forest renewal trust fund. Last year the ministry input $19.3 million to top up the trust fund" Neill said. "At that point the ministry should have recognized that there was a serious issue and yet, it was not investigated at that time. So now the forest industry is in a crisis and also the forest renewal industry is in a crisis."
Neill believes that the shift to less expensive practices such as natural regeneration is not effective and detrimental to the industry at large, both now and in the future.
"Our forests are moving slowly over the last 10 to 15 years from a boreal forest to a mixed type forest because of the cutbacks the companies have done over that period. Let’s make sure our public understands; natural regen is doing nothing" Neill said. "Mother nature has a step by step process, it will come back in tag alders and small hardwoods and before the conifers come back in it will take two or three hundred years before it is back to its original state. If they go in and actually do artificial regen it can be done in one cycle and that is what our forest management plans are based on."
Neill says that we have an incomplete picture of the state of the forest in Ontario and that for effective regeneration to take place that problem has to be rectified.
"We need a complete database on all the renewal that has been done in all the 22 units across the province. We know that there is a lot of NSR or Not Sufficiently Restocked hectarage. Do we know exact numbers of what is not done? No we don’t, we just know there is a lot. I think we need an evaluation first thing" Neill said.
"The government is responsible for picking up the slack in the fund; there is no one else to do it. When it is all said and done the Ontario government is responsible for the forest" Neill said. "The process has not been monitored closely enough in terms of ensuring that the dollars are there in order to do adequate renewal on behalf of the public."
Neill doesn’t believe that forest companies should shoulder all of the blame for the current state of silviculture funding.
"A profit driven company will do only what they have to do and that’s natural. It’s totally up to the people of the province and the politicians in government to ensure what has to be done gets done" Neill said.◊