Working towards sustainability.

• Author: GOULIQUER, DIANNE
• Position: Forestry industry associations and government address environmental concerns

Forestry industry associations and government address environmental concerns

The provincial government's Living Legacy program may be taking centre stage when it comes to forestry and the enviroumentin Ontario, but that doesn't mean forestry companies and other groups throughout the province aren't taking the initiative to address forest-related environmental concerns.

The Ontario Forestry Association (OFA), for example, continues to educate and help land owners manage their properties in a responsible and environmental manner. Sustainability is the organization's priority.

The OFA has been involved in public education around forestry and environmental issues since the 1940s.

"Our association is about raising awareness and understanding about all parts of Ontario's forests, like wildlife and recreation as well as timber,"

OFA executive director Erik Turk says. "I think that one of the issues surrounding. Ontario's forests that we're very concerned about is that private land be managed sustainably, and that the owners of the land know what sustainable forest is."

Turk says he believes there is a greater sense of responsibility today than there was 10 years ago.

"In the last three to four years in particular, there has been much more of a commitment to stewardship of Ontario's forests, both on private and public land," Turk says. "People are looking after forests better and they're looking after forests more."

Individual forestry companies are also doing their part to ensure the sustainability of Ontario's forests.

Domtar Inc., for example, is actively pursuing ISO 14001 certification for all of its forestry practices, and plans to achieve that goal before the end of 2002.

ISO 14001 is an international standard for an environmental management system. To obtain certification, Domtar had to accept to be audited by an independent third party and develop a system by which the public could be kept informed of its activities.

The Spanish Forest in Northern Ontario is the first Domtar-managed forest to be registered to the standard. Registration followed a detailed three-day audit of the environmental management systems by the Quality Management, Institute, which revealed the company's commitment to continuous environmental improvement was present within "all levels of the Domtar organization," says Craig McMannus, senior vice-president of Domtar's forest resources division.

Domtar's information vehicle of choice was an interactive Web-based...