Research and Monitoring Program

The development of an ecologically sound management strategy requires an understanding of many different aspects of the forest. This requires an awareness of what the forest is (including plants, animals, soil and water), how the forest works, and how the components of the forest are all related. Knowledge of the relationships between these various elements of the forest and how they are linked together is an essential element of ecosystem based management. We will never understand all there is to know about the complexities of the boreal forest but we are attempting to fill in the missing pieces by doing research, developing inventories and conducting long term monitoring projects. The results from these projects will be used to assist LP to develop sustainable forest management strategies to ensure the long term health of the forest into the future.

LP Swan Valley Forest Resource Division has had an active research and monitoring program since 1997. As a first step towards the development of LP’s research program, a series of meetings were conducted with academics, Federal and Provincial government representatives, environmental organizations and other forest industries to develop a list of research priorities for FML #3. A series of research, inventory and monitoring programs have been initiated by LP in Swan River to address the list of research priorities that was developed. Research is conducted by scientists from within Manitoba and across Canada. The various projects have been directly funded by the Company and through the development of research partnerships and in co-operation with other organizations. Many of LP’s research projects have been funded through LP’s partnership with the Sustainable Forest Management Network (SFMN), located at the University of Alberta. The SFMN is a unique collaboration between Federal and Provincial government agencies, Canadian universities, the forest industry and Aboriginals. It has conducted over $ 24 million of research in the boreal forest across Canada since 1995. The research is dedicated to the development of new tools and strategies for the sustainable management of Canada’s forests focusing on the social, ecological and economic aspects of forest management. In addition, LP is a partner with the Manitoba Model Forest, the Ducks Unlimited Canada Western Boreal Program, the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada, the Prairie Adaptation Research Centre and the Centre for Forest Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Winnipeg.