The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is a science-based ministry, and its applied research and science units have been making important new discoveries about Ontario’s natural resources for more than 60 years.
The ministry relies on these units for new scientific knowledge related to fish and wildlife habitat, water resources, forest growth, the effects of harvesting, and systems and technologies for tending forests. This knowledge is shared with MNR’s Forest Program, which oversees forest management in Ontario, and helps to guide Ontario’s forest management practices, policies and legal framework. Other users of this information include forest industry, conservation groups, stewardship councils, and local citizens committees.
MNR’s research and science direction stems mainly from legal and regulatory commitments related to the Class Environmental Assessment for Forest Management on Crown Lands in Ontario, the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act. Direction also comes from objectives and priorities in MNR’s forest and fish and wildlife business plans, which support the ministry’s mission of ecological sustainability and are updated every year.
MNR’s long history of research and science success is partly due to its many partnerships, which allow sharing of resources and risks. MNR is a leader in developing and delivering collaborative research programs with a range of partners, including the Canadian Forest
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MNR's research and science units develop new scientific knowledge related to the conservation and sustainable management of Ontario’s forests, fish and wildlife, and water resources. |
Service, the Canadian Ecology Centre-Forestry Research Partnership, forest industry, Canada’s model forests, academic institutions, and many others. MNR is a member of several national and international research networks, such as the Sustainable Forest Management Network. These partnerships are a major source of research and science funding.
