MAITLAND BRIDGE, N.S. — A forestry project that puts trees and the environment first is getting ready to showcase all that the forest has to offer and highlight sustainable practices that can offer economic opportunity locally.
It’s the third year for the Medway Community Forest Cooperative hosting the Forest Fair and Market with this year’s edition set for Aug. 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Farmers and Traders Market space in Annapolis Royal.
“This event showcases local artists and artisans who sell or create products made with components from the forests,” said Freya Clark with MCFC. “These products range from foraged wild foods, to maple syrup, to wooden furniture and spoons, and even to drums made with ash wood and dyed with plant dyes.”
She said the co-op holds the market because they see supporting and promoting business opportunities that are derived from forest products or services as one of the critical parts supporting their mandate of sustainable and ecologically-based forest management.
There is no fee for the artists and artisans displaying and selling their wares at the market, or for the visitors to the market.
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability is key to the co-op’s work, Clark said.
“A sustainable resource is one that continues to be viable over time,” she explained. “Resources that are harvested sustainably will be able to produce revenue over time into the future where as a resource that isn't harvested sustainably will be used up or burnt out much faster.”
She said MCFC aims to manage forest resources to support economic stability in local communities while allowing for community collaboration through its co-operative format, and using ecologically based forest management to maintain, enhance, or restore healthy Acadian forest conditions.
“In this way we are able to support economic, social, and environmental values, thereby operating sustainably,” she said. “Community support allows for social licence which allows a forestry operation to continue functioning and producing economic benefits over the long term. Maintaining or improving forest conditions allows our landbase to continue to produce profits into the future.”
PROJECTS
The forest fair and market isn’t the only thing the co-operative has on the go. She said current projects include ongoing timber sales of firewood and softwood sawables, softwood pulp, and a few hardwood logs, public outreach and community building events such as the Wild Foods Workshop coming up on Aug. 18 and Sept. 14 respectively, and a biodiversity study of MCFC land in partnership with a masters student from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Forestry which will allow MCFC to monitor how their forest changes over time.
“We are also currently in the process of developing a campground on our land,” Clark said.
But everything the co-operative does is through an ecological lens.
“It is critical that we think of wildlife, habitat, and climate change,” she said. “The climate, wildlife, and the habitat in which a forest grows are all critical parts that work together to create a healthy forest. When these parts change the forest composition can change as well which can affect the whole process of forest management.”
ENVIRONMENT
Clark said forests are a critical part of the environment in which we all live and they support every aspect of our lives from the air we breathe to the climate we live in.
“A forest that is managed sustainably can allow us to take economic and social benefits from it without excessively disrupting the processes it requires to be healthy, allowing it to continue to function and thrive into the future,” she said.
The Medway Community Forest Coop is a member-based community forest operating on 15,000 hectares of Crown Land in Annapolis County, its mandate states. “We aim to promote the multiple values of forests, and diversify local economies to support rural communities.”
The Crown Licence area is on land located in Annapolis County near the communities of Annapolis Royal, Bear River, South Milford, Springfield and New Germany, and Caledonia in Queens County.
“We are currently in ongoing discussions with the Department of Lands and Forestry to obtain a long-term agreement as we exited the pilot stage of the project two years ago,” Clark said.
MCFC currently has more than 135 member shareholders.
GoOnline: https://www.medwaycommunityforest.com/
