Introduction to the Glendale Research Teaching Forest
The Glendale Research Forest is privately owned land comprised of approximately 40 ha (100 acres) of forest adjacent to the Trans Canada Highway in Glendale, Nova Scotia, Canada.
It is located within a 350 km radius of 7 post-secondary education centers in the Province of Nova Scotia and has a travel distance of approximately two and a half hours to the Halifax International Airport.
Within a 2-hour radius of Glendale, four school board districts comprise over 80 public schools, private schools, and several First Nation schools. Many of these schools are participating in the Nova Scotia Green School Program, an initiative set forth by Efficiency Nova Scotia to unite school communities to adopt smarter energy habits and become more sustainable. This Teaching Research Forest’s goals are aligned with many existing projects, such as Green Schools, and can enhance school resources.
To be established with research plots and other education activity attractions, the Research Teaching Forest in Glendale, Nova Scotia, Canada is open for partnership opportunities for applied research and development projects for non-timber forest products. In addition, the Teaching Forest is to serve as an instructional field trip destination for students young and old – teaching science and environmental management techniques to those who are destined to be future stewards of Forests. Forest-based professional workshops will be developed and offered in the future development phase for this International Teaching Forest Incorporation. Students and instructors from all levels of education, from daycare schools, primary to senior high schools, and post-secondary institutions, are all potential clients of the International Research Forest in Glendale. In addition, the Teaching Forest is available for potential partnerships that may arise from businesses that are involved with programming related to outdoor learning, forest skillset development, health and well-being activities related to outdoor learning, cultural, Spiritual, traditional, and non-traditional forest programming, and family recreation business-related opportunities.
List of Green Schools in Nova Scotia:
ANNAPOLIS VALLEY REGIONAL CENTRE FOR EDUCATION (28/40 SCHOOLS)
CAPE BRETON-VICTORIA REGIONAL CENTRE FOR EDUCATION (39/39 SCHOOLS)
CHIGNECTO-CENTRAL REGIONAL CENTRE FOR EDUCATION (45/64 SCHOOLS)
CONSEIL SCOLAIRE ACADIEN PROVINCIAL (21/21 SCHOOLS)
FIRST NATION SCHOOLS (11/11 SCHOOLS)
HALIFAX REGIONAL CENTRE FOR EDUCATION (101/134 SCHOOLS)
PRESCHOOL/PRIVATE (6/N/A SCHOOLS)
In Nova Scotia: 322 Schools have joined The Green School Movement
Nova Scotia Growing in Research Interest.
Since 1986, Glendale has been involved in the promotion of Forest Research in Nova Scotia. Provincially, there has been an evolving interest in forest research – particularly post an early 2003 proposal for the development of a collaborative research activity Centre related to non-timber forest products in Glendale involving four Atlantic Canadian Universities. The early pioneering work of this formal proposal was met with interest with suggestions of the concept being a vision ten or more years in advance of local readiness. This concept presented to the government for an inter-university research cluster has advanced over the last few years with new funding opportunities now being designed to further these concepts. Glendale continues to be prepared to take the industrial partner lead for this work – designing a Forest Research Field station to build on the previous 20-plus year foundation.
Goals of International Research Teaching Forests Incorporated: Alignment with One Nova Scotia Economic Growth Strategy 2014-2024
– taking action toward being part of identified solutions in two key areas:
Being part of the identified solution as a private sector partner working with institutes to help fulfill their mandates of enhancing post-secondary training and education and promoting career opportunities for students.
- Promoting student talent and skills through co-ops and experiential learning and creating an environment that promotes innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship
- Being an industry partner for Research & Development alongside institutions and business
- Promoting Tourism expansion and Agriculture exports from the production of Non-Timber Forest products and associated on-site training.
Background: What is One Nova Scotia?
Recommendations For Building Our New Economy – a 10-year plan
ONE Nova Scotia came together at the request of the Government of Nova Scotia with a mandate to develop a 10-year plan to help achieve the ambitious goals set out in the report of the Commission on Building Our New Economy – commonly known as the Ivany Report.
In 2014, Ray Ivany told Nova Scotians it was time to act — now or never.
Excerpt from the Report:
Universities
The number and quality of Nova Scotia’s post-secondary education (PSE) institutions give us a huge competitive advantage that can help to revitalize our province. A thriving innovation economy depends on talented people with the right knowledge, skills, and attitudes to make Nova Scotia stronger economically, socially, and culturally.
Approximately 56,000 students are attending post-secondary institutions in Nova Scotia, with about 22,000 coming here to study from other provinces and countries. We challenge these institutions to play an even greater role as regional innovation hubs that connect with surrounding communities and strengthen opportunities for students to benefit from experiential learning.
There are three ways to advance these objectives:
3.1 Enhance the role of institutions as anchors for regional economic and social development and innovation as Regional Innovation Anchors
PSE institutions should develop their roles as innovation hubs within their regions to help strengthen regional networks, build human capital, and utilize their expertise to support community objectives. They should:
Become even more active partners in economic planning and revitalization efforts by helping to mobilize knowledge in communities
Enhance innovation ecosystems, with a particular focus on strategic sectors
Provide expertise to community development initiatives to enhance outcomes
Promote entrepreneurship, especially among youth, and provide research-based advice in shaping business strategy
Amplify the effectiveness of P–12 education by tutoring and mentoring vulnerable youth or underperforming students to help close the achievement gap
A strategy focused on these areas is required to build our PSE institutions into places where students and entrepreneurs create dreams that work.
3.2 Support R&D and commercialization partnerships between PSEs and the private sector
Bringing ideas to life is everyone’s responsibility. PSE institutions, the private sector, and government must work together to enhance business-led R&D and commercialization. In Nova Scotia, business performs only 11 percent of research, with the rest being performed by PSEs (74 percent) and in federal labs (15 percent).
We recommend increasing research funding to high-quality graduate students, focusing funding in areas of provincial priorities, and encouraging business-led partnerships with universities and NSCC. Provincial funding for R&D should be increased and it should also be leveraged to encourage more business-led research investment, with a focus on commercialization.
3.3 Develop student talent and skills through co-ops and experiential learning and create environments that promote innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship
3.3 CO-OPS, EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Students need to connect to employers at every stage of their education to maximize work placements, co-ops, and experiential learning. Exposure to business and the workforce creates environments that promote and facilitate entrepreneurship, which will be critical to Nova Scotia’s economic revitalization.
While every program is not automatically linked to available work, students should nevertheless be assisted by PSEs in determining how their field of study relates to potential career paths after graduation.
We believe Nova Scotia should act now to become the province that offers the most co-ops and experiential learning programs per student in Canada and translate these successful, engaged working students into permanent residents.
What has the progress toward identified goals at the 5-year mark (2014 -2019)
Five years later, the results showed the province was making progress on 10 of the 19 goals outlined in the report. (2019). The OneNS.ca tracking website says Nova Scotia is gaining ground in more than half of the key areas:
Inter-provincial migration
International migration
Retention of international students
Youth employment
Post-secondary education and training
Research and development partnerships
Venture capital
Tourism expansion
Fisheries and agriculture exports
Source: Now or Never Five years later: Province making progress on 10 of 19 Ivany goals | SaltWire
Don Bureaux is the President of the Nova Scotia Community College and the convener of the One N.S. website. He says it’s important to remember that the report was written for Nova Scotians, not the government.
“This is something that we have to be committed to for the long term, so therefore over the long term we’re going to see changes.”
Source: Now or Never Five years later: Province making progress on 10 of 19 Ivany goals | SaltWire
Source: Plans – We Choose Now
What has been the progress toward identified goals at the 10-year mark ( 2014 -2024)
A Feb 15, 2024 update from Don Bureaux the Ivany report highlights three main areas of focus: the economy, demography, and attitudinal shift. According to Mr. Bureaux, to grow the economy we must embrace the modern economic revolution. Regarding the demography, we are experiencing 25-30 thousand people growth per year toward the goal of doubling our population. Mr. Bureaux states that we have a different confidence level now away from low cost, and low skill toward more welcoming diversity and recognizing the value of creativity and innovation. He believes Nova Scotia can advance further toward all 19 goals. Admittedly this growth has its complications, but Bureaux states that we can collaborate and continue to work on these trouble areas to make things better. In the long- term for another 10 years, we will remain locked on to the majority of these priorities.
Source: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/nova-scotia-s-progress-with-the-ivany-report/vi-BB1ilLXx
Advancing Business through Mentorship
Blending Traditional and Non-Traditional ways will strengthen our relationships in the community.
We become inspired by witnessing the quality work of others.
We learn by mentorship with proficient people.
We are motivated to passion through exposure to new ideas.
Exciting News from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)!
Source Site: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/media-media/newsdetail-detailnouvelles_eng.asp?id=1271
New US-Canada partnership announced for collaboration in research and innovation
General news Professors
June 15, 2021
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the first formal partnership between the agencies, which support fundamental discovery research in the US and Canada. The partnership paves the way for new collaborations between members of the research community in both countries to build inclusive partnerships at the frontiers of science and emerging technologies. NSERC and the NSF will provide a flexible, streamlined application and funding process with further details to be released in the months ahead.
This partnership also fosters a shared commitment to equity, diversity. and inclusion within the research enterprise. In 2020 and 2021, NSERC and NSF delivered a series of joint workshops that focused on inclusive and intersectional engineering and computer science research. Building on this experience, both organizations recognize that inclusivity is essential for innovative and impactful research and training in all scientific disciplines.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed today at the virtual meeting of the Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC), a strategic forum of Canada’s federal research funding agencies that works to strengthen Canada’s research enterprise, foster world-leading research, and advance the social and economic well-being of Canadians.
Quotes
“Canada is pleased to be partnering with the United States to expand and accelerate opportunities for researchers which foster equity, diversity, and inclusion. This important research partnership will enhance excellence, innovation, and creativity in research. I look forward to seeing the positive results this will bring to key areas of science and technology, including artificial intelligence and quantum.”
– The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
“NSF values partnerships for accessing a broader network of ideas, innovations, and experiences to address and solve real-world problems. This partnership with our counterpart Canadian funding agency opens doorways to new possibilities for international collaboration between US and Canadian researchers in areas of mutual interest and national investment, such as AI and quantum.”
– Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, NSF Director
“This new partnership exemplifies a shared vision and values that are embodied by our two organizations and builds on the extensive research ties between Canada and the United States. We look forward to creating new opportunities that will push the boundaries of scientific knowledge, enrich training experiences for early-career researchers, and broaden participation in research through inclusive and intersectional approaches.”
– Alejandro Adem, NSERC President and Chair of the Canada Research Coordinating Committee
Update
July 4, 2023 – Latest news New US-Canada partnership announced for collaboration in research and innovation General news Professors June 15, 2021. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the first formal partnership between the agencies, which support fundamental discovery research.
2024 Opportunities for Funding
The following are two links to current relevant funding opportunities for 2024 and beyond which align with the research ongoing for International Research Teaching Forests Incorporated.
Potential joint funding with Universities and Community Colleges in International Partnership positions.
Preparing Atlantic Canada for Competitive Advantage
in the Growing Bio-Economy
Status of the Forest Products Industry
- The forest products industry is a key contributor to Canada’s wealth and prosperity as a result of over 135 years of success in the Global Marketplace. (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 2002)
- The industry exports over 250+ products to 175+ countries.
- In 2022, natural resources directly and indirectly accounted for 19.2% of nominal GDP.
Source: Natural Resources Canada estimates, based on Statistics Canada data (national accounts)
Canada’s natural resource exports were valued at $422 billion in 2022, comprising 58% of the value of Canada’s total merchandise exports.
Source: Natural Resources Canada calculations, based on Statistics Canada data
In 2021, clean technologies, clean energy, and environmental goods and services accounted for $73.1 billion (2.9%) of Canada’s nominal GDP and provided 314,000 jobs.
Canada’s forest sector contributed $33.4 billion (1.2%) to Canada’s nominal GDP in 2022.
In 2022, Canada’s forest sector employed 212,660 people.
Facts About Non-Timber Forest Products
The wide array of NTFPs
Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) refer to products of biological origin other than timber, derived from forests. The range of NTFPs is very diverse and includes those that are: gathered from the wild, in either timber-productive or non-timber-productive forests and lands (e.g., mushrooms)
produced in forests under varying levels of management intensity (e.g., maple syrup)
produced in agroforestry systems (e.g., forest species such as wild ginseng planted as field crops)
Some NTFPs require little or no processing.
Types of NTFPs
Forest-based foods – These include maple syrup, wild blueberries, wild mushrooms, and native understorey plants such as wild ginseng and fiddleheads. By-products of the forest industry can also be converted into prepared foods (e.g., lignin, a natural constituent of wood is used to make artificial vanilla).
Ornamental products from the forest – These include horticultural species bred from wild species (such as cedars and maples); and decorative or artistic products such as Christmas trees and wreaths, fresh or dried floral greenery (e.g., salal), and specialty wood products and cravings.
Forest plant extracts used to make pharmaceuticals and personal care products – These include paclitaxel (commonly known by the trade name Taxol®), which is most often extracted from yews like the Canada yew (ground hemlock). Taxol is widely used as a chemotherapy agent. Other forest plant extracts, particularly conifer essential oils, are used in a wide range of creams and other personal care products.
The value of NTFPs to Canada’s economy
Maple products represent a 354 million-dollar industry in Canada. In 2009, the country produced over 41 million liters of maple products, including maple syrup. Canada produces 85% of the world’s maple syrup.
More than 1.8 million Christmas trees were sold in Canada’s domestic and export markets in 2009. This seasonal industry is worth about $39 million annually.
Canada is the world’s largest producer of wild (low-bush) blueberries. It exported $207 million of fresh and frozen berries in 2014. Most wild blueberries are planted commercially in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces as field crops.
Source: https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/forests/industry-and-trade/forest-products-applications/non-timber-forest-products/13203
NTFP Research In Canada
Across Canada, research into NTFP is still in its early stages and most of it has been concentrated on the market for these products.
In British Columbia, research has been conducted focused on mushrooms and other fungi due to the lucrative Asian Market (Anon 1999)
In Saskatchewan, a market analysis of NTFP has been carried out through the Prince Albert Model Forest.
In Manitoba, several projects have been completed including
A Brandon University project helping First Nations people in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba to inventory NTFP especially those of culinary or medicinal value.
Non-timber forest products are all biological materials, other than timber, which are removed from natural or managed forests for human use or consumption.(Peters1994, Broekhoven 1996) This encompasses a large variety of products that include, but are not restricted to, edibles, decorative materials, and medicinals.
In recent decades, NTFP’s have been a means of managing and optimizing forest ecosystems while still providing economic benefits to local residents. (Wickens 1991)
Canada has an abundant 417.6 million hectares of forested land, which constitutes 45% of the total area of Canada (Shilts 1999)
Communities currently harvesting NTFP are concerned with improving their quality of life by maximizing harvesting while minimizing its ecological effects, retaining control over their lands and resources, minimizing costs related to harvesting and sustaining their culture. (Velasaquez Runk 1998)
2024 Canadian Counterparts for NTFP Research
The Canadian Forest Service / Canadian Model Forest NTFP Research
Canada yew is grown in nurseries and is one of the main sources of a semi-synthesized derivative of paclitaxel (commercially referred to as taxol), which has provided one of the most significant treatments in cancer therapy.
As part of Forest 2020, the CFS also conducted research on other wood perennials that have medical uses. Those species include larch, willow, and hawthorn.
Another focus of CFS research has been on the sustainable harvest and cultivation of forest-based foods, such as mushrooms and several wild berries.
https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/forests/industry-and-trade/forest-products-applications/non-timber-forest-products/13203
https://www.modelforest.net/media/k2/attachments/finalntfpreport.pdf
Northern Diversification Center Manitoba
The Northern Forest Diversification Centre’s experience in northern Manitoba shows the importance of long-term support, realistic expectations, local champions, and integrated market chains for successful non-timber forest product development.
https://consensus.app/papers/supporting-canadas-product-sector-lessons-manitobas-belcher/1a4683e3e11c5abd8475a60da3b088fe/
UNB’s New Non-Timber Forest Research (Further to 2003 Glendale Joint Proposal )
NTFP research in:
Cultivation of fast-growing species for pellet production (various willow clones)
selection and propagation of elite cultivars of high-value crops (Rhodiola)
Current and future strategy centers around studies on multi-purpose, multiple-product NTFP species (e.g. larch, willow, hemp) and a diversified portfolio of NTFPs.
https://www.unb.ca/fredericton/forestry/wstc/services/non-timber.html
International Research Teaching Forests works toward the coordination of key stakeholders in Canadian and International Non-Timber Forest Products Research and Development to assist, as the rural industry partner, in the coordination of devising sustainable harvest systems which have been identified as needed, through previous research work.
These systems, collaboratively devised, will enable the identification of regional Non-timber forest opportunities, a foundation for coordinating with existing harvesters and processors, and the ability to move forward cohesively to inventory and understand traditional and non-traditional sustainability practices that require implementation through joint research projects.
This work is necessary to establish, ensure, secure, and further grow the Non-Timber Forest industry in regions of Canada and beyond.
International Research Teaching Forests Incorporated Research Field Station & Industry Partner to University, Government Research on NTFP Unama’ki (Cape Breton Island) Nova Scotia, Canada.
Industry Partner to attract International Research Partnerships via International Research Cluster Specializing in Non-Timber Forest Products
Including Edu-Eco-Tourism and Adventure Outdoors Tourism and The Forest and Human Wellness Research & Development
As politician’s have decided to advocate sustainable harvesting systems, and the socioeconomic circumstances are favorable, researchers must be prepared to devise these systems (Boot and Gullison 1995) for all NTFPs with economic potential.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269898483_Approaches_to_Developing_Sustainable_Extraction_Systems_for_Tropical_Forest_Products
Economic Ramifications
The Canadian Forest Service estimates that the current NTFP economy in Canada generates 1 billion dollars annually. The British Columbia NTFP industry alone accounts for over 25% of this figure.
As the bio-economy. matures and grows, it is expected to contribute an additional 70 billion dollars annually to the agricultural sector, with similar predictions for the forestry sector as well.
With some limited exceptions, however, the NTFP/ bio-products industry barely exists in Nova Scotia.
Rapid Changes
The global trade of forestry products, mainly lumber and paper products, is changing rapidly under the influence of international competition, overcapacity, tariffs. and a shift in consumer demand for green products.
The maintenance and growth of market share face a climate of ever tighter margins where mechanization will become an even greater necessity for competitiveness.
To maintain a positive trade balance in the long term, it is imperative that Canada not only join other countries in systematically pursuing new value-added uses for forest products and by-products but also seize the opportunity presented by its abundant forest resources to lead the world in research and development of an industry based on bioproducts. ( Forestry Chronicle, Sept/ Oct. 2003)
What Can Be Done?
Adequate research – establish capacity
Establish financing
Create infrastructure and partnerships for coordination
Develop a multi-sector systems approach to a strategic plan – improving production technologies and enhancing skill development
Implement the plan
Implications
- Development of sound and sensitive approaches to managing NTFP activities requires the following:
- Identify NTFP that may be harvested in the area and the multiple values associated with them – concentrating on products with special cultural and livelihood importance and /or that enter the formal market.
- Create awareness of challenges in landownership and management around their forest and how these may affect access to and availability of NTFP
- Become familiar with variations and the scale of NTFP and their relationship to what happens at the forest level.
- Building relationships of trust and collaboration with gatherers will be essential to develop NTFP programs that are socially and economically sustainable (Emery, Ginger, Newman, Giammusso 2002)
Identified Funding Partners
- Natural Resources Canada/Canadian Forestry Service
- Industry Canada
- National Research Council-Industrial Research Assistance Program
- Agri-Food Canada Innovation Program
- ACOA/Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation
- Human Resources Canada
Maintaining Sustainable Forest Industry For Maintaining Sustainable Rural Communities
Although we are intellectually and institutionally accustomed to the separation of forestry from other economic and social sectors, when it comes to production at the local level, they are inextricably linked. (Thomas Beckley and William Reimer)
Source: https://www.researchgate.net/Bill-Reimer
The commercialization of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) is increasingly viewed by many working in the field of Community Economic Development (CED) as holding out significant promise to support the economic well-being of forest communities. (Andrew Chapeskie Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba).
Although we are intellectually and institutionally accustomed to the separation of forestry from other economic and social sectors, when it comes to production at the local level, they are inextricably linked. (Thomas Beckley and William Reimer)
Source: https://www.researchgate.net/Bill-Reimer
The commercialization of Non- Timber Forest Products (NTFP’s) is increasingly viewed by many working in the field of Community Economic Development (CED) as holding out significant promise to support the economic well- being of forest communities. (Andrew Chapeskie Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba
Pathway to Plan Implementation
- Phase development strategy.
- Develop pilot research project of NonTimber Forest Products Industry Systems Research utilizing the Living Laboratory in Glendale Cape Breton Island.
- Establish the in-coming National Expertise to solidify and further define partnerships with existing NTFP Research and Development work
- Develop with the identified team of university, industry, community, First Nation, and partners
- Development within a 5 -10 year time span to industry consultation.
Passionate Professor & Professional International Speaker, Glenn Brown Master of Environment and Management Program, Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Consultant for Ecotourism, Ecosystem Services, Ecological Restoration and Invasive Species.
Adaptive Ecosystem Management and Project Management, Environmental Assessment.
Non-timber forest products bring approximately 200 million per year to our economy (2022). Source; Natural Resource Canada
Industry related to non-timber forests is underdeveloped in Canada.
Learning about forests, forest management, and forest business can help sustain forests, communities, and businesses as people can benefit from seeing what is possible for them to do in a forest.
Applied Forest Research in Non-Timber Forest Products will promote rural community development, environmentally, economically, and socially.
International Research Teaching Forests is actively seekingto partner with innovative Research & Development opportunities related to equipment for Non-Timber Forest Products processing.
