Media Clipping — November 19, 2001, NDP Nova Scotia

Act on the GPI Atlantic Report on the Forests

John MacDonell, Hants East

Halifax - NDP Natural Resources critic John MacDonell is calling on Natural Resources Minister Ernie Fage to immediately implement the recommendations for forest recovery outlined in the recently released GPI Atlantic Report.

"This government tends to ignore good advice and support the status quo at all costs," says MacDonell, "But clear-cutting won't just bring on an ecological disaster, it will bring on an economic disaster."

"We can't let our forests go the way of the cod fishery. We can count the trees, something we couldn't do with the codfish. Why is the Hamm government waiting for the forest industry to collapse before it acts?"

The GPI report found that the unit value of Nova Scotian forest products is declining dramatically. It estimates that indiscriminate harvesting of the forests has resulted in the cutting of smaller and smaller trees of less economic value. The report estimates that the practice may have cost the Nova Scotian forest industry $260 million a year in profits over the past 40 years.

"We have cut the best and devalued the rest," says MacDonell.

The GPI report concluded that a program of selective harvesting, forest restoration and a policy to reduce clear-cutting would allow the once dominant Acadian forests to recover, increasing the unit value of wood cut.

The report also noted that in addition to adding long-term value to the forests, sustainable practices are more labour intensive and add more jobs to the economy.