Grant: Engage Grants Program

The project will test a novel land use model that will enhance the environmental services of small holder lands and create opportunities for expansion and sustainable growth of a private company in the budding ""green"" biofuel sector of Nova Scotia. The biofuel company produces wood pellets as a renewable source of energy that can be burnt at low levels of environmental impacts. Cultivating willows in Short Rotation Coppices on vast areas of abandoned farmland and beef cattle pastures is considered as an option for sustainable wood pellet production by the ENLIGNA Inc. factory in Upper Musquodabit, Nova Scotia. As a first step towards realizing the economic and environmental benefits of Short Rotation Coppice, the proposed project will provide the industry partner with site-specific information about soil carbon and nutrient stocks that is critical for corporate planning of sustainable growth and the expansion of its wood processing capacity in Nova Scotia. The project will facilitate the industry partner's push for ""green certification"".