Business View Magazine l November 2022

21 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 11 quarterly membership e-newsletter, bi-annual membership magazine The Leader, e-notices, website posts, social media, and The Forestry Chronicle – the Institute’s scientific and professional journal since 1925. Each year, they also host a National Conference and Annual General Meeting, bringing together forest practitioners and alike, and providing opportunities for networking and engagement. “Our 2022 Conference that was hosted this September in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario was our first in-person Conference since 2019, with over 200 delegates in attendance,” says Pearson. “Our next Conference will be held in Nanaimo in 2023, and in St. John’s in 2024. Additionally, we are working with the Society of American Foresters towards hosting a joint Conference in 2026.” Historically, forests were viewed as boundless sources of resources. By the 1970s an awakening of other forest values led to environmental regulations being implemented. Additionally, there has been an increasing recognition of the unique rights and relationships Indigenous peoples have related to forests. According to Natural Resources Canada’s 2021 State of Canada’s Forests Report, 184,510 people are directly employed by Canada’s forest sector. This includes approximately 12,000 Indigenous Peoples. Pearson emphasizes, “Given the immense benefits of our forests, it is critical that they are sustainably managed, and Canada remains a global leader in sustainable forest management. Since 1990, less than half of 1% of the forest lands in Canada have been changed to a non-forest land use. Canada’s already low deforestation rate is expected to not only to remain low, but to decrease. Currently, there is a lot of misinformation about forestry that exists in the public sphere. As those involved in the sector it is important that we dispel these myths and inform the general population that THE CANADI AN INST I TUTE OF FORESTRY Mark Pearson, CIF-IFC Executive Director