Evelyn Hamilton and Wendy Cocksedge submitted an article to the Federation of BC Woodlot Association's (FBCWA) Winter Almanac. 'A Forest Full of Opportunities' is available online.
For more information on the FBCWA, visit their website at: http://www.woodlot.bc.ca/
We are very pleased to announce that the Centre for Livelihoods and Ecology (CLE) has received a major grant of almost $200,000 for its project: Strengthening the competitiveness of rural and northern communities: Creating new knowledge-based tools for small and medium-sized natural resource-based enterprises, from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Rural Secretariat program. The project significantly leverages existing work funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Led by director Brian Belcher, with CLE staff Tim Brigham, Wendy Cocksedge and Jenny Sigalet, this two-year project entails a truly national level partnership, including the Canadian Model Forest Network; Biopterre (Centre de Developpement des Bioproduits); INFOR Inc.; the Coasters' Association; and the Institute for Culture and Ecology. The strength of these partnerships contributed significantly to the success of the proposal. Within RRU, we have a strong and valued partnership with the Faculty of Management and we hope to work with more of our Royal Roads colleagues as the project develops. The excitement felt among our partners is captured in the response of one of our collaborators from Quebec: "I really believe we have embarked on a project which will strengthen our shared goal to build a stronger [small-scale] natural resources industry in our hinterland communities.... This project, I believe, is one of the 'pillars' required to achieve such a goal."
This project recognizes that the economic basis of rural communities is changing. With these changes come increasing interest in the development of small and medium-sized enterprises based on the utilization of local natural resources, which offer the promise of sustainable resource management, local control, and the creation of vibrant, viable, and healthy communities. While rural communities and enterprises are pursuing new and emerging opportunities, they face many challenges including accessing reliable information on best practices, practical skills development to help them develop needed capacity to create successful enterprises, and identifying and accessing suitable markets for natural resource-based products. This shortfall in effective knowledge dissemination and exchange is particularly true in rural, First Nations, and northern communities which are often far from support agencies, business infrastructure, and markets.
The goal of the project is to encourage the development and economic diversification of rural, remote and/or northern communities by designing, developing and implementing web-based services. The project will reach this goal through:
1. summarizing and organizing existing knowledge, and, as needed, developing new knowledge about rural diversification, small-scale resource-based enterprise development, and small-scale resource management in Canada, focusing on knowledge relevant to Aboriginal, northern and remote communities;
2. developing an interactive web-based platform (the "Knowledge Centre") to disseminate this information and to facilitate collaboration amongst individuals and agencies involved in rural resource development and management, including creating networking opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises that are often isolated;
3. creating an Internet-based Directory of products and services that will provide business profiles, product listings and contact information to give unprecedented commercial exposure for enterprises in rural/remote communities; and
4. marketing the Knowledge Centre and e-Directory to diverse audiences and encouraging their use.
We have already begun establishing a dynamic and diverse Advisory Group that will guide the successful development of the Knowledge Centre. Project partners recognize that our plan to be the ‘first stop' for information on rural community development and diversification is ambitious but with tremendous potential for positive impacts for rural communities right across Canada. As Chris Dickie from INFOR (New Brunswick) sees it: "[Through this project] we've really got a great chance to put something together that will be a game changer. I'm looking forward to bringing our respective ends of the country a little bit closer".
For further information, please contact Brian Belcher at brian.belcher@royalroads.ca.
NORTH of East Kalimantan’s scarified waste is an area where the extractive juggernaut has not yet reached. Beneath the helicopter’s blades, the woods thicken and the terrain rises to a seam of limestone crag, dripping with trees. Beyond it is the district of Berau, 70% of which is still covered in forest.
It is lovely to behold, its multi-greened canopy like a vast head of broccoli, speckled with orange and yellow where an ironwood tree or a liana has forced itself up to the light. Borneo’s forest has more tree species per hectare than anywhere else. It is also packed with carbon: up to 400 tonnes per hectare. Yet much of this forest is doomed. It provides no tax revenues for the government, which owns it, and only a modest income for the local Dayaks, in rattan, honey and game. Failing a remarkable intervention, it too will get cleared.
Iain Davidson-Hunt and Peggy Smith, CEESP Vice-Chairs, North America, Catie Burlando, CEESP Member The North American boreal forest is home for many Indigenous Peoples and has become a highly publicized contested ground in the international debate on conservation versus development. Some private sector companies are pursuing potential wealth from natural resource extraction and development (e.g. timber, minerals, tar sands, hydroelectric development) while Environmental Non-Government Organizations (ENGOs), with significant funding from private foundations, are pursuing a “protectionist” agenda that is well publicized internationally.
The first applied research and development centre established at Royal Roads University is rebranding itself as the Centre for Livelihoods and Ecology. The new name highlights commitment to sustainable resource management.
"This new identity more accurately describes the focus of our activities," said Brian Belcher, the Centre's Director. "We are dedicated to improving people's livelihoods and resource management through strategic and applied research on forest resources and rural economies."
"Originally created in 2004 as the Centre for Non-Timber Resources, the Centre has built a good reputation among policy makers in the forestry and agricultural sectors, as well as among resource managers, Aboriginal people, and rural communities. But the Centre's previous name led to a lack of understanding of the Centre's activities and its mandate", says Belcher.
"We wanted our name to reflect what we do. The whole area of community- and small-scale resource management and development remains poorly understood and insufficiently supported. Aboriginal people continue to rely heavily on these resources, and there are new markets and new opportunities to use these resources to create value and to improve livelihoods, especially in rural and remote communities. Our work aims to help recognize and realize the potential for sustainable natural-resource-based development and we want our name to emphasize the intended outcomes more than the products."
The Centre for Livelihoods and Ecology has a unique mandate dedicated to strategic and applied research on forest resources and rural economy. It works to fulfill its mandate through three programs - socio-economics and policy; ecology and management; and extension, training and sector support.
"We do policy-relevant research, strategic research and applied research in the first two programs. The third program - extension, training and sector support - puts research into practice," said Belcher.
The staff at the Centre partner with university, government and private researchers in B.C., across Canada and internationally on a range of research activities. Their projects have earned them a solid reputation with funding agencies, communities, Aboriginal groups, resource-based enterprises and various government organizations.
Among the general public, the Centre is best-known for its Buy BCwild initiative, which includes a public directory of B.C. businesses that provide mostly wild-harvested products and associated services (like eco-tourism), as well as the Shop the Wild Festival at Royal Roads University that last year attracted over 2,000 people to its unique mix of a market and public education about the sector.
"As more typical resource industries such as forestry and fishing continue to face challenging times in B.C., there is an urgent and growing need for diversification and a recognition of our dependence on forest systems," says Belcher. "Through our applied research programs, we will help those rural and resource-dependent economies to diversify and sustain themselves."
For further information, contact:
Brian Belcher
Director, Centre for Livelihoods and Ecology
(250) 391-2600 ext 4407
brian.belcher@royalroads.ca
Sugaring is hard work, but Vancouver Island producers are finding that demand outstrips supply
Read the full article in the Globe and Mail.
Nature News recently published an article highlighting studies presented at a meeting of the Zoological Society of London, held in April 2010. Dr. Brian Belcher presented the results of a project that has been assessing the contribution of NTFPs to household income across 26 countries.
http://www.lacdubonnetleader.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2557222
The Lac du Bonnet Leader recently published an article about the NTFP training course in Pine Falls, MB. The course was delivered by Tim Brigham at CNTR and Dave Buck, former manager of the Northern Forest Diversification Centre in The Pas.
From April 12-23 the Manitoba Model Forest (MBMF) hosted a 2 week program on Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) at the Winnipeg River Learning Centre. This program represents a collaboration between the MBMF, the Centre for Non-Timber Resources at Royal Roads University (Victoria, B.C.), Manitoba Forestry Association and the Woodlot Association of Manitoba.
Participants learned about a wide variety of topics related to NTFPs, including: what are NTFPs, local and international marketing, adding value to products, and an exploration of what’s in our community’s backyard. They gained hands-on experience. Some participants attended the workshops out of interest in starting up a business, while others are attended out of interest in learning about NTFPs for our own use.
This program is part of a longer-term plan to build capacity and expertise in NTFP businesses in the model forest area. A new curriculum on NTFPs has been developed by Royal Roads University and Dave Buck for this intensive training course. The MBMF is supporting the development of the curriculum
Presenters include Tim Brigham (Royal Roads), Dave Buck (former manager of the Northern Forest Diversification Centre in The Pas, Manitoba), Ken Fosty (Manitoba Forestry Association) and Dr. Brian Kotak (Manitoba Model Forest).
