The amount of forestland has increased in parts of Canada in the last hundred years. But what’s green isn’t necessarily good for biodiversity. In this episode of Below the Canopy, we speak to Dr. Matthew Betts, whose research confirms what many already suspected: that when naturally diverse forests are degraded through intensive management, biodiversity will suffer. Dr. Betts explains the importance of conducting long-term ecological research, the usefulness of birds as a biodiversity indicator species, and how forest degradation is impacting wildlife in eastern Canada.

Resources and further reading:

• Forest degradation drives widespread avian habitat and population declines, Betts et al., Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2022
• Replanting one type of tree is not enough to stop clearcutting harm, study finds, CBC News, 2022
• Why forest complexity matters for biodiversity and resilience, Community Forests International, 2022

We would like to acknowledge the Government of Canada for supporting this project.

Podcast artwork by Emma Hassencahl-Perley and Erin Goodine.

Sign up for Community Forests International's newsletter to stay up to date with Below the Canopy and the rest of our work!

To support Community Forests International, please visit: https://forestsinternational.org/donate/.

« C’est quoi le pire qui pourrait arriver? » C’est ce que l’épouse de Mathieu LeBlanc lui a demandé quand il a quitté son emploi et fondé une compagnie de foresterie au Nouveau-Brunswick en 2008. Le pays connaissait une crise financière, la demande de produits du bois avait dégringolé et l’industrie forestière en souffrait. Malgré ces difficultés, le pari de Mathieu était bien placé : sa compagnie, ACFOR, est l’une des compagnies forestières écologiques les plus prospères au Nouveau-Brunswick.

Dans cet épisode de Sous la canopée, Mathieu nous fait connaître sa motivation à fonder ACFOR, nous dit pourquoi sa compagnie a si bien réussi et nomme les ingrédients essentiels de la viabilité économique d’une foresterie écologique. 

• Prescriptions sylvicoles pour la résilience aux changements climatiques de la forêt Wabanaki, Community Forests International, 2022
• Notre forêt en transformation, Community Forests International, 2020
• Borealization of the New England – Acadian Forest: a review of the evidence (La boréalisation de la forêt Acadienne /de Nouvelle-Angleterre : examen des faits probants), Noseworthy, J. & T.M. Beckley, Environmental Reviews, 2020.
• Healing while harvesting (Guérir en récoltant), magazine Canadian Forest Industries, 2015

Merci au gouvernement du Canada pour son financement en soutien à ce balado.

Illustrations dans le balado : Emma Hassencahl-Perley et Erin Goodine.

Pour appuyer Community Forests International, rendez-vous à : https://forestsinternational.org/donate/.

Jesse Saindon has spent most of his adult life growing trees. As the owner of Liberty Tree Nursery in Beaver Dam, New Brunswick, Jesse tends to a unique mix of hardwood trees native to the Wabanaki forest—also known as the Acadian forest. In this episode of Below the Canopy, Jesse explains what inspired him to open Liberty Tree Nursery, his process for collecting locally-adapted seeds, and his motivations for growing bur oak—an ecologically and culturally significant tree species that is now rare in New Brunswick.

Resources and further reading:

• Bur Oak: King of the Floodplains, Liberty Tree Nursery, Aug 30, 2021
• Conservationists work to save dwindling population of bur oak trees, CBC New Brunswick, Dec 23, 2021
• Past and present distribution of New Brunswick bur oak populations: a case for conservation, McPhee, D. & Loo, J.A., 2009
• Climate Change-Resilience in the Acadian Forest: A Review, Community Forests International, 2018

We would like to acknowledge the Government of Canada for supporting this project.

Podcast artwork by Emma Hassencahl-Perley and Erin Goodine.

Sign up for Community Forests International's newsletter to stay up to date with Below the Canopy and the rest of our work!

To support Community Forests International, please visit: forestsinternational.org/donate.