The transformation of the Canadian forest sector and Swedish experiences

The transformation of the Canadian forest sector and Swedish experiences 

Canada and Sweden are boreal developed countries, characterized by coniferous forests dominating the forest landscape and rural communities that are heavily dependent on forestry and forest industry. The forest sectors are currently going through transformations driven by increased competition from producers in the southern hemisphere, declining markets for some traditional products, increased biomass competition and rapid high-tech developments to mention a few. However, there are also major differences between the two countries; in scales, ownership, tenure pattern, forest management concepts, silvicultural systems, structure of industry, nature of investments and involvement of government and non-governmental organizations. Still, the forest sectors in both countries are and will go through intense transformations and these processes are involving different players in the two countries. This conference illustrates the transformation processes in Canada and Sweden through:

• The Canadian transformation process through the Biopathways project
• Investment needs to overcome the challenges of the sector
• Steering mechanism for innovation and research in Sweden
• Development of rural areas through the Swedish Forest Kingdom program
• Stakeholders’ collaboration through the Boreal agreement
• Different approaches to silviculture and outline existing collaborations
• Outlook of the boreal forest sector with respect to transformations

The aim of the conference is to identify important issues to manage in the transformation processes in the forest sectors in Canada and Sweden. The morning session focuses on the overall trans­forma­tions and will also discuss the innovation and investment processes involved. The afternoon focuses on the development within forestry. The conference is the result of several years of collaboration between the Canadian Embassy and the Secretariat for International Forestry Issues (SIFI) at the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA).

Program

Moderator   Jan Fryk, Managing Director, The Forestry Research Institute of Sweden

 Please read more concerning summeries www.sifi.se .