INTEGRAL FORESTRY
INTEGRAL FORESTRY...
What does it mean?
Integral Forestry means and includes:
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1. Forest practices that first determine the ecological limits to human uses of a specified land area, and then, given these limits, apply management strategies that will maintain a fully functioning ecosystem over time; and,
2. Management strategies that consider humans as part of the ecosystem and that aim to improve social conditions such as local employment levels, community stability, local economic opportunities, community safety, fire preparedness and respect and understanding among residents; and
3. A board of directors and a membership that share the following understanding:
(a) residents hold diverse perspectives and value systems in relation to the forest that surrounds them,
(b) these perspectives and value systems are guided and influenced by a mix of social, economic, scientific, spiritual, psychological, cultural, political, historical and institutional lenses.
(c) each of these perspectives is valuable and pertinent and must, therefore, be considered as part of solutions that will work for all.
(d) by including and building upon these perspectives, solutions found will be more complete and viable in considering how the community and the forest can interface.
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Our Integral Forestry purposes are:
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1.To serve as a model of integral forestry (see above definition) by owning and managing forest lands in a manner that is ecologically and socially responsible, economically sustainable, and that provides the community with all the amenities of a fully functioning ecosystem.
2. Specific purposes are as follows:
(a) To manage the community forest license area according to site-sensitive, ecologically based forestry practices modeled on an ecosystem-based approach that is peer review defendable.
(b) To stimulate local employment and economic opportunities from these forest lands that are ecologically sustainable and socially responsible.
(c) To establish a financially viable forest product business that:
(i) provides forest management services and forest products marketing services;
(ii) supports forest-related educational, recreational, business and employment opportunities for the Slocan Valley;
(iii) supports the preservation of ecologically sensitive lands and the restoration of degraded forest lands;
(iv) enhances community safety and fire preparedness by reducing fuel loading in the WUI zone within the Slocan Community Forest;
(v) provides a meaningful public participation process for the planning and development of domestic use watersheds;
(vi) preserves water quality, quantity and timing of flow in the community forest license area.
