Our Forests Today

Sustainable Forests Management (cont'd)

Silvicultural systems

In ensuring sustainable forest management, it is ultimately silvicultural practices that determine what evolves after harvest. These practices involve different methods of harvesting and regeneration, as well as the tending and protection of the forest.

• The clearcutting system is used mainly in the boreal forest and is designed to mimic many of the effects that would occur from natural fire. Under the Forest Management Guide for Natural Disturbance Pattern Emulation, harvested areas must vary in shape and size, and trees are left behind to ensure successful and healthy regeneration. Regrowth may also be promoted by seeding and planting. In such cases, mechanical site preparation may be used and some form of tending applied during the early development of the young stands of trees.
• The shelterwood system is used mainly in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest with eastern white pine and sometimes hardwoods such as yellow birch.
• The selection system is also used here and in the deciduous region in hardwood forests. With both the shelterwood and the selection systems, the main focus is on natural regeneration. 

Ontario also has several detailed guides for the management of fish and wildlife and other non-timber values which provide forest managers with direction in the design of silvicultural practices.

Private landowners

While the vast majority of Ontario’s forests are Crown forest, private forests do make up about 11% of Ontario’s forested lands. They contribute a substantial proportion of Ontario’s timber harvest and also provide other products such as maple syrup.

Crystal Creek near Sault Ste. Marie, is managed as a ski area, with periodic tree removal

Private landowners are supported by the Ontario Stewardship Program, funded by the government, which provides help in finding information and expertise to better manage their forests. The program is delivered through a network of 40 Stewardship Councils comprising volunteer groups of landowners working with the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Keeping our forests healthy

Human efforts to maintain healthy and sustainable forests must also address fire, insects and disease – all natural components of forest ecosystems. This often means intervention to protect young forests or those with significant values.

In Ontario's Far North, forest fires and insect depredations have been major factors of disturbance.

Forest Fire

To help detect and suppress forest fires in Ontario, a provincial air service was set up in 1924 – the longest flying non-military government air service in the world. Over time, the Aviation and Forest Fire Management program has evolved and now takes a broader approach in providing not only protection for the health, safety and property of people living in and near forests but in allowing forest fires to fulfill its ecological role in certain forests. Ontario’s fire management program has been innovative in adapting new technology in detection and suppression and in working with federal and other provincial forest fire agencies through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Insects Depredations

Forest insects and diseases can readily change forest conditions, often over large areas. A number of the major pests, such as the spruce budworm, tend to be cyclical. This insect causes severe defoliation and tree mortality over large areas. The most recent outbreak ran from 1967 to 1999, with a peak year in 1980 of 18.85 million hectares of severe defoliation. Trees killed A Vision for Canada's Forests: 2008 and Beyond



This document supports the work of the MNR and its partners in advancing sustainable forest management. It focuses on two priorities: transforming the forest sector, and climate change.

View documentby insects are a ready source of fuel for a forest fire, so areas of such outbreaks are of special concern. The Ministry of Natural Resources works in partnership with the Canadian Forest Service to monitor forest health, particularly with regard to insects and disease.

In Ontario’s Far North, forest fires and insect depredations have been the major factors of disturbance. Human interference with the northern boreal forest has been minimal, and no commercial logging has been allowed. Other activities, such as fly-in-tourism, have been limited. This forest is home to a number of First Nations communities who, for generations, have depended on the forest for their existence.

Recognizing the ecological importance of this large forest and its indigenous peoples, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has established the Northern Boreal Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to work towards having Aboriginal people assume responsibility for the management of the forest lands on a community-by-community basis.