Forest landscape restoration legislation and policy: A Canadian perspective
Date
2022
Authors
Mansuy, Nicolas
Hwang, Hyejin
Gupta, Ritikaa
Mooney, Christa
Kishchuk, Barbara
Higgs, Eric S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Land
Abstract
Restoring degraded ecosystems is an urgent policy priority to regain ecological integrity,
advance sustainable land use management, and mitigate climate change. This study examined
current legislation and policies supporting forest landscape restoration (FLR) in Canada to assess
its capacity to advance restoration planning and efforts. First, a literature review was performed to
assess the policy dimension of FLR globally and across Canada. Then, a Canada-wide policy scan
using national databases was conducted. While published research on ecological restoration has
increased exponentially in Canada and globally since the early 1990s, our results showed that the
policy dimensions of FLR remain largely under documented in the scientific literature, despite their
key role in implementing effective restoration measures on the ground. Our analyses have identified
over 200 policy instruments and show that Canada has developed science-based FLR policies and
best practices driven by five main types of land use and extraction activities: (1) mining and oil and
gas activities; (2) sustainable forest management; (3) environmental impact assessment; (4) protected
areas and parks; and (5) protection and conservation of species at risk. Moreover, FLR policies have
been recently added to the national climate change mitigation agenda as part of the nature-based
solutions and the net-zero emission strategy. Although a pioneer in restoration, we argue that Canada
can take a more targeted and proactive approach in advancing its restoration agenda in order to
cope with a changing climate and increased societal demands for ecosystem services and Indigenous
rights. Considering the multifunctional values of the landscape, the science–policy interface is critical
to transform policy aspirations into realizable and quantifiable targets in conjunction with other
land-use objectives and values.
Description
Keywords
climate change, cumulative effects, ecological restoration, Indigenous Peoples, nature-based solutions, novel ecosystem
Citation
Mansuy, N., Hwang, H., Gupta, R., Mooney, C., Kishchuk, B., & Higgs, E. (2022). “Forest landscape restoration legislation and policy: A Canadian perspective.” Land, 11(10), 1747. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11101747