COMMUNITY FORESTRY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR NORTHERN ONTARIO

Community forestry is becoming an increasingly important policy issue for provincial governments in Canada. Many single-industry communities in the northern parts of the provinces, surrounded as they are by forests, are looking to forest resources for possible economic diversification and stability. At the same time as there is increasing interest, there is little understanding about what community forestry could and should be for communities surrounded by Crown land forests. This paper looks at some definitions and dimensions of community forestry, as well as reviewing briefly some experiences with it. We examine various ways in which community forestry might be different from provincial government forestry and industrial forestry, and reflect on whether community forestry could lead to improvements in forest management. We conclude with some thoughts on potential future directions for community forestry in Ontario.