Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Canadian forest inventory and management requirements are changing rapidly as the forest sector works to satisfy an increasingly complex set of rules, standards, business practices, and public expectations (i.e., economic, environmental and social policy goals). As a result the Canadian forestry sector must generate the maximum possible value from each tree harvested. A significant barrier to the sustainable management of forests and the provision of ecosystem services under these new pressures is a lack of detailed information regarding the nature of the supply, that is, the amount and characteristics of forest resources. To address this barrier, there are two critical needs. First, to develop accurate inventory systems that spatially quantify timber and other forest related ecosystem services and second, to further the use of these systems to improve modeling of forested ecosystems, both with respect to accuracy and comprehensiveness. This project meets these two needs, in collaboration with government and industrial researchers. With this information industry can strategically invest and draw benefits across the entire value chain through an enhanced ability to understand the nature of the supply, the ability to locate and separate trees for particular end uses and enable product segregation and resource value maximization.