A Review of Silvicultural Practices in Ontario Likely to Meet International Conservation Standards by Emulating Natural Disturbance
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Canada has committed to the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework thereby agreeing to protect and conserve 30% of its land and oceans by 2030 (Government of Canada, 2022a; Government of Canada, 2023). To meet the objectives Canada must look towards innovative conservation strategies, such as Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs). The goal of this study is to examine the potential for forests managed under Ontario’s sustainability standards, which include adaptive management practices that attempt to both conserving biodiversity and ensuring sustainable harvest levels to qualify as OECMs. This study compares these management guides with recent literature on ecological forestry and natural disturbance emulation to assess how well these practices conserve biodiversity long-term and to recommend modifications for enhancing their effectiveness. The results show that Ontario silviculture guides attempt to manage for biodiversity but often fall short of the standards associated with OECMs. However, current practices can be adjusted to better mimic disturbances and in turn enhance forest complexity and biodiversity, within managed forests. This study represents a first step toward identifying forestry practices that support in-situ conservation of biodiversity by mimicking natural disturbances, laying the foundation for future screening of these forests as potential OECMs.
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