Research Nova Scotia was a White Oak-level sponsor for the 2023 Northern Hardwood Conference in Fredericton, New Brunswick from August 1-3, 2023.
Northern hardwood forests cover millions of hectares in eastern North America, making it one of the most economically important and ecologically diverse forests.
These forests face a variety of threats such as climate change, invasive species, degraded timber quality, forest fragmentation, and nitrogen deposition. Forestry professionals and researchers seek to find innovative solutions to sustainably manage these challenges.
This conference brought together industry, researchers, academia, and forest professionals to learn about and discuss science and innovation management practices to sustain healthy and productive northern hardwood forests.
Research Nova Scotia’s sponsorship for the 2023 Northern Hardwood Conference aligns with its research agenda, Bringing Focus to Forestry Research, which is in partnership with the Forestry Innovation Transition Trust. The research agenda was developed to bring greater focus to the role research can play in the forestry sector’s transition to a sustainable future.
Kirsten Campbell, Forestry Research Manager at Research Nova Scotia, represented RNS at the conference. Here’s what she had to say about the three-day event:
The conference had anything and everything to do with hardwood topics such as a seed workshop, harvesting equipment advancements, how to cope with wildlife browsing, tree marking, and modeling. The speakers were from an array of backgrounds, businesses, educational institutes, and locations. It was interesting to hear what folks are working on or studying in their regions.
The first two days of the conference involved presentations, workshops, poster viewing, good food and conversation. The third day was in the field.
The field day was in the Skiff Lake area into some lovely hardwood sites of AV Group NB Inc. freehold that they manage. This was a huge opportunity to learn how to use the Northern Hardwood Research Institute (NHRI)’s Silviculture Prescription System app. Working through each site using the app inspired rich conversations. Participants also got to demo a Ponsee harvesting simulator and see how a Landrich 2.0 harvester and a commercial remotely piloted aircraft system are used.
Thank you to all involved in organizing the event. It was seamless! Lots of great information, passionate people, and lovely scenery.
