Forest bioeconomy in Ontario – A policy discussion

Ontario’s forest sector has been undergoing a significant structural shift resulting from a more than decade-long trend of declining markets for traditional products. Though there have been signs of industry recovery, the forestry industry is still far smaller than it once was. In order to sustain a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: I. Majumdar, K.A. Campbell, J. Maure, I. Saleem, J. Halasz, J. Mutton
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Canadian Institute of Forestry 2017-01-01
Series:The Forestry Chronicle
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2017-007
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849339970099085312
author I. Majumdar
K.A. Campbell
J. Maure
I. Saleem
J. Halasz
J. Mutton
author_facet I. Majumdar
K.A. Campbell
J. Maure
I. Saleem
J. Halasz
J. Mutton
author_sort I. Majumdar
collection DOAJ
description Ontario’s forest sector has been undergoing a significant structural shift resulting from a more than decade-long trend of declining markets for traditional products. Though there have been signs of industry recovery, the forestry industry is still far smaller than it once was. In order to sustain and improve Ontario’s economic position, we must develop policies and supporting programs that transition our forest economy to a more robust and diverse set of markets, including capitalizing on opportunities that come from a thriving and sustainable forest bioeconomy. The current suite of programs is fragmented and does not provide support for all types of bioproducts and policy initiatives, nor across all sections of the value chain. These factors, coupled with the lack of a clear strategic direction for the bioeconomy, have contributed to Ontario’s slow emergence into the bioeconomy when compared to other jurisdictions. It is proposed that a key way to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of policy support for the emerging bioeconomy is to integrate and coordinate the actions of the government with industry and academia players involved in the bioproducts sector. Forest policy needs to take a balanced, integrated approach to promote all aspects of the bioeconomy to help ensure the eventual success of Ontario’s forest bioeconomy.
format Article
id doaj-art-ea95d15d847640588bb2cde7dd1f7283
institution Kabale University
issn 0015-7546
1499-9315
language English
publishDate 2017-01-01
publisher Canadian Institute of Forestry
record_format Article
series The Forestry Chronicle
spelling doaj-art-ea95d15d847640588bb2cde7dd1f72832025-08-20T03:44:01ZengCanadian Institute of ForestryThe Forestry Chronicle0015-75461499-93152017-01-019301213110.5558/tfc2017-007Forest bioeconomy in Ontario – A policy discussionI. Majumdar0K.A. Campbell1J. Maure2I. Saleem3J. Halasz4J. Mutton5Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 70 Foster Drive, Suite 210, Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 6V5Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 70 Foster Drive, Suite 210, Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 6V5Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 70 Foster Drive, Suite 210, Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 6V5Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 70 Foster Drive, Suite 210, Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 6V5Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 70 Foster Drive, Suite 210, Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 6V5Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 70 Foster Drive, Suite 210, Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 6V5Ontario’s forest sector has been undergoing a significant structural shift resulting from a more than decade-long trend of declining markets for traditional products. Though there have been signs of industry recovery, the forestry industry is still far smaller than it once was. In order to sustain and improve Ontario’s economic position, we must develop policies and supporting programs that transition our forest economy to a more robust and diverse set of markets, including capitalizing on opportunities that come from a thriving and sustainable forest bioeconomy. The current suite of programs is fragmented and does not provide support for all types of bioproducts and policy initiatives, nor across all sections of the value chain. These factors, coupled with the lack of a clear strategic direction for the bioeconomy, have contributed to Ontario’s slow emergence into the bioeconomy when compared to other jurisdictions. It is proposed that a key way to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of policy support for the emerging bioeconomy is to integrate and coordinate the actions of the government with industry and academia players involved in the bioproducts sector. Forest policy needs to take a balanced, integrated approach to promote all aspects of the bioeconomy to help ensure the eventual success of Ontario’s forest bioeconomy.https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2017-007forest policyforest biofibreforest biomassforest bioeconomybioenergybioproduct
spellingShingle I. Majumdar
K.A. Campbell
J. Maure
I. Saleem
J. Halasz
J. Mutton
Forest bioeconomy in Ontario – A policy discussion
The Forestry Chronicle
forest policy
forest biofibre
forest biomass
forest bioeconomy
bioenergy
bioproduct
title Forest bioeconomy in Ontario – A policy discussion
title_full Forest bioeconomy in Ontario – A policy discussion
title_fullStr Forest bioeconomy in Ontario – A policy discussion
title_full_unstemmed Forest bioeconomy in Ontario – A policy discussion
title_short Forest bioeconomy in Ontario – A policy discussion
title_sort forest bioeconomy in ontario a policy discussion
topic forest policy
forest biofibre
forest biomass
forest bioeconomy
bioenergy
bioproduct
url https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2017-007
work_keys_str_mv AT imajumdar forestbioeconomyinontarioapolicydiscussion
AT kacampbell forestbioeconomyinontarioapolicydiscussion
AT jmaure forestbioeconomyinontarioapolicydiscussion
AT isaleem forestbioeconomyinontarioapolicydiscussion
AT jhalasz forestbioeconomyinontarioapolicydiscussion
AT jmutton forestbioeconomyinontarioapolicydiscussion