with
Yves Bergeron, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue
The Canadian boreal forest constitutes one
of the last frontier forests in the world. But it is a forest
under pressure.
Traditional cutting practices have resulted in a greatly
decreased percentage of old-growth forest. Fire –
a source of soil disturbance that increases fertility –
has been suppressed. The forest, once a patchwork of stands
of different ages, is now characterized by large cutovers
with small and highly fragmented islands of older forest.
A change in modern forest management, from simply harvesting
wood to managing all forest resources, requires new strategies.
Forest managers need ways to reproduce the dominant attributes
of natural forests, using practices that emulate natural
disturbances and forest dynamics. Speaker Dr. Yves Bergeron
will discuss research collaborations that are under way
to develop these new approaches. While there is growing
awareness of the value of ecological forest management,
managers and policy makers are still reluctant to make the
switch.
Dr. Bergeron has conducted long-term studies
of both natural and managed boreal forests and is recognized
internationally as an expert in ecological silviculture
and forest management. He
holds the Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Sustainable
Forest Management at the Université du Québec
en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT). He is also Director
of the NSERC-UQAT-UQAM Industrial Research Chair in Sustainable
Forest Management, an adjunct professor at the University
of Northern British Columbia and a member of the Interuniversity
Forest Ecology Research Group.
Organized by: The Partnership Group for Science
and Engineering (PAGSE)
Sponsored by:
--the Speaker of the Senate
--the Speaker of the House of Commons
--Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2006 from 7:30 am - 9:00 am
Place: Room 200, West Block, Parliament Hill
Cost: No charge to Members of the House of Commons, Senators
and Media. All others $10
Registration: Please register by contacting Donna Boag,
PAGSE Coordinator: 613-991-6369, pagse@rsc.ca
Registration Deadline: October 23rd
