The GPI Forest Headline Indicators for Nova Scotia

The hearings on the future management of most of Nova Scotia as a physical entity...have ignited something.

Go beyond brain-dead accounting. Use the Genuine Progress Index.

The province needs to see the forest for the trees, a non-profit research group warned Wednesday.

The Halifax-based research group GPI Atlantic says much more needs to be done to counteract decades of over-harvesting, clear cutting and other bad practices.

Authors: Linda Pannozzo and Ronald Colman

The report assesses whether progress towards sustainability has been made since the release of the 2001 GPI Forest Accounts for Nova Scotia in the following key areas: 1) forest age class distribution and restoration of older forests; 2) forest-dependent flora and fauna species at risk; 3) protected areas as percentage of total provincial land mass; 4) harvest methods; 5) value added per cubic metre of wood harvested; and 6) jobs created per unit of biomass harvested. The report is accompanied by a list of recommendations that flow from the evidence indicating how forest sustainability can be improved.
The GPI forest update is part of a major effort currently under way to update results from nearly 12 years of developmental work to create a Genuine Progress Index for Nova Scotia. That completed GPI will summarize key headline indicators in 20 social, economic, and environmental areas, and is intended to provide the province with a practical tool to measure its progress towards genuinely sustainable prosperity.