Whole-tree clear-cutting not a green energy source, say environmentalists
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Northern Pulp’s operation (pictured here) has been certified as "green" by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. (Jamie Simpson) |
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HALIFAX—“This is slash and burn. This is destroy the province,” says
Barbara Markovitz, co-chair of the Eastern Shore Forest Watch.
Markovitz lives in Calm Harbour on the Eastern Shore where Northern
Pulp Ltd. is whole-tree clear-cut harvesting for biomass energy.
“Residents in the area are very upset, shocked and appalled,” she says.
After whole-tree clear-cut harvesting, the land once covered by
forest is barren, with no trees or wildlife. The soil, once protected
by trees, can now be damaged by sun and rain.
Jamie Simpson, forester with the Ecology Action Centre (EAC),
recently visited a biomass and pulpwood harvest site run by Northern
Pulp Ltd. The land near Upper Mosquodoboit is owned by Neenah Paper Ltd.
“This is the worst I’ve ever seen—it’s hard to believe this is
happening in Nova Scotia, in the 21st century,” says Simpson. “It’s an
embarrassment.”
Biomass is material derived from living or recently living
organisms, and whole-tree clear-cut harvesting is “the cheapest way to
get biomass material for burning [in order] to produce energy,”
explains Simpson.
But the benefits do not outweigh the costs, he says. Most of the
nutrients in a tree are in its branches and leaves. “With whole-tree
harvesting, you remove the tops and the branches, and you also remove
the really, really small trees and the trees that would normally be too
poor quality to take for pulp or for lumber, and then you’re also going
to take out the dead trees,” says Simpson. “So essentially you’re not
really leaving anything to go back into soil.
“It proves that we need a regulation to stop companies from whole-tree clear-cut harvesting,” Simpson says.
That’s why the Ecology Action Centre, nine other Nova Scotia groups,
and the Nova Scotia Woodlot Owners and Operators Association (NSWOOA)
are trying to stop whole-tree clear-cut harvesting.
Northern Pulp’s operation has been certified as "green" by the
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI Inc.), a third-party certification
program that was set up by the American Forest and Paper Association.
“Typically, the SFI has been considered the less stringent
certification option for North American companies,” explains Graeme
Auld, assistant professor of public policy and administration at
Carleton University.
The SFI is greenwashing, says Simpson, explaining that the
organization is trying to appear more environmentally friendly than it
is.
Simpson says the government’s response to the EAC and other groups’
demand for legally binding restrictions on whole-tree harvesting has
been wishy-washy. “The Minister of Natural Resources said that they
won’t commit to no whole-tree harvesting in their modeling of available
biomass,” says Simpson.
“I think the Department of Natural Resource has to realize that we
don’t want to sacrifice our soil productivity and wildlife habitats for
a little bit of energy,” Simpson says.
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Northern Pulp has a license to 80,000 hectares of Nova Scotia's Crown land. (Jamie Simpson) |
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The Department of Natural Resources has recently received many
complaints, including a petition from the nine groups working to combat
whole-tree clear-cut harvesting.
The whole-tree clear-cut harvest near Caribou Mines, in Upper
Musquodoboit, was a pulp harvest, says Dan Davis, spokesperson for Nova
Scotia’s Ministry of Natural Resources. “It wasn’t a harvest for
biomass,” he says.
But Simpson says whether it was a harvest for pulp or biomass is not
the issue. Simpson says while the majority probably went to pulp, “the
key issue is around the result after the whole-tree clear-cut harvest
was done.” The effect whole-tree clear-cut harvesting has on the land
is what concerns Simpson and others the most.
Although Davis said the minister would "prefer" companies didn't use
whole-tree clear-cut harvesting, he confirmed there are no regulations
against the practice.
Northern Pulp, based in the US, is an affiliate of Atlas Holdings
LLC and Blue Wolf Capital Management LLC. John Hamm, former Premier of
Nova Scotia, is one of Atlas Holdings’ operating partners.
Northern Pulp has a license to 80,000 hectares of Nova Scotia's
Crown land, and has an agreement to manage Neenah Paper's 195,000
hectares of private land. On March 26, 2009, the Nova Scotia government
loaned Northern Pulp $15 million to assist its mill in Pictou.
This summer, Northern Pulp whole-tree clear-cut harvested
approximately 260 hectares (650 acres). More cutting is planned for
this winter.
In order to produce biomass, explains Auld, “there are probably many
options, but the less biomass per hectare an operation can extract, the
less economically viable it is likely to be.” Since whole-tree removal
generates the most biomass per hectare, it is of particular interest to
harvesters.
Although financial costs of whole-tree clear-cutting may be
relatively low in terms of producing biomass energy, there are many
other costs, according to Simpson, including the cost to climate.
“It causes a net loss of carbon from our forests and forest soils,”
explains Simpson. “It’s not a carbon-neutral energy source—that’s
nothing but a myth.”
With the eight other groups, the Eastern Shore Forest Watch has been
notifying the public, writing letters to the government and contacting
the media. ESFW's Markovitz is determined to stop companies from
whole-tree clear-cutting. “We will continue as long as necessary and as
hard as necessary until some sanity returns to forestry in Nova
Scotia,” says Markovitz.
The Dominion