McGregor Model Forest: International Development Research Centre

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McGregor Model Forest

Document(s) 1 of 8

Country: Canada

Location: Prince George, British Columbia

Area of model forest: 7.7 million hectares

Regional affiliation: Canadian Model Forest Network (est. 1992)

Contact information

Name: Dan Adamson

Address: PO Box 2640, Prince George, BC, V2N 4T5

Phone: (250) 612-5842

Email: dan@mcgregor.bc.ca

Website: www.mcgregor.bc.ca

Forest and resource profile

The McGregor Model Forest includes the City of Prince George and the communities of Vanderhoof, Fort St. James and Fraser Lake. According to the 1996 Census, the population of the area is 195,762. More than 70% of residents live in the City of Prince George. The Model Forest also includes a significant indigenous population within its boundaries.

McGregor Model Forest is part of the Montane, Subalpine and Columbian forest regions of Canada. The principal biogeoclimatic zone is the Sub-Boreal Spruce Zone, which extends over most of the area. Forest products, recreation and tourism amenities and a variety of wildlife habitats highlight the wide range of uses and values found in the McGregor Model forest. Outdoor activities in the timber supply area include fishing, hiking, hunting, boating, canoeing, snowmobiling and skiing. The McGregor Model Forest area hosts a wide variety of wildlife species including mountain and woodland caribou, moose, mule and white-tail deer, mountain goat, black bear, grizzly bear, cougar, wolf, beaver, otter, mink, muskrat, fisher, wolverine and pine marten; as well as many bird species including waterfowl.

Economic profile

Forestry is the primary industry driving the economy of the communities in this Model Forest area. In Vanderhoof and Fort St. James, the forest sector provides the highest source of employment- 41% and 54% respectively of total employment, while in Prince George it accounts for approximately 30%.

Why a model forest?

The activities of McGregor are primarily based on its well-established role as a catalyst for sustainable forest management. McGregor's partners and other contributors are essential to its "strength in numbers" approach. Collectively, the diverse group of partners and the expertise and experience of the board of directors and program committees form a collective membership that can achieve much more than any individual partner or sub-group ever could.

Partners

Governments - 20%,
Research organizations - 10%,
First Nations - 10%
Communities - 20%
Industry - 10%
Practitioners - 20%
General Interest Groups - 10%

Strategic goals

To increase exchanges and coordination amongst experts, researchers and practitioners that supports greater clarity and understanding of factors and trends affecting communities most reliant on forest lands
To facilitate the coordinated, inclusive and community-based development and testing of locally relevant and realistic tools, indicators and approaches that lead to informed objectives and decisions
To facilitate a greater multi-disciplinary approach and focus on long-term, landscape-level resource management and forestry issues that includes timber, non-timber and indigenous peoples values
To provide forums that bring people together to advance ideas, share knowledge, clarify issues, increase understanding or facilitate collaboration and action
To provide open, effective and targeted communications that will inform audiences and increase their ability to add value to decisions affecting forest and community sustainability
To increase partnerships and networking with the model forest and between stakeholders

Accomplishments to date

Promoted interdisciplinary resource planning and management, resulting in major steps forward for central British Columbia
Enhanced innovation and built trusting, respectful partnerships to define sustainable forest management and its relationship to local issues
Developed the McGregor approach to sustainable forest management suite of procedures, technologies and tools that allow forest managers to model future forest conditions, then make long-term, meaningful land and resource management plans based on social, economic and environmental factors
The Communities and Sustainability Program has established working partnerships with Prince George, Vanderhoof, Fort St. James, the Omineca Beetle Action Coalition and the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council to establish community resource committees, organize and deliver conferences (such as its Communities-in-Transition conference), and hold workshops on incorporating social and cultural concerns into sustainable forest management
Launched the British Columbia Coalition for the Implementation of the National Forest Strategy in 2003 to implement initiatives and projects that support the national strategy vision, and encourage the forest industry to participate with other parties interested in seeing BC become known as a global leader in sustainable forest management

International policy links

The McGregor Model Forest has indirectly supported the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change through a number of activities. For example, in partnership with FORREX, the Canadian Model Forest Network, the University of Northern BC, and Natural Resources Canada, McGregor hosted a workshop that provided communities with information about how to prepare for the potential impacts caused by climate change, recognize areas of vulnerability and move toward making adaptations to reduce risks. Participants embraced the concept of creating a Northern Climate Change Network intended to continue the connections and linkages initiated during the workshop, and to increase awareness about projects, tools and resources available for making adaptations to minimize the effects of climate change. The McGregor Model Forest has offered to be the catalyst for this network.

Resources

All publications are housed in the Natural Resources Information Network, which can be searched from the McGregor website at www.mcgregor.bc.ca

Document(s) 1 of 8