The Forest Management Wetland Stewardship Initiative’s (FMWSI) mission is to advance wetland stewardship in the boreal forest through sustainable forest management. Working together since 2017, the initiative takes an innovative approach by leveraging the knowledge and resources of seven committed organizations to find solutions to shared challenges. These organizations include Alberta Pacific Forest Industries Inc., Canfor, Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), Tolko Industries Ltd., West Fraser, and Weyerhaeuser Company.
The FMWSI has three key objectives:
- Advance sustainable forest management
- Establish guiding principles and best management practices to conserve wetlands and waterfowl in forest management planning and operations
- Complement provincial forest management planning requirements and the needs of forest certification programs
To date, the FMWSI has developed five publicly available resources – two technical reports and three practitioner guidebooks. These resources help guide planning and operating activities in and near boreal wetlands and describe best management practices to minimize or avoid potential impacts to wetlands and waterfowl. They are publicly available and have been downloaded over 1,800 times and we have distributed over 1,200 hard copies. While the primary audience for these resources is forest practitioners, biologists, and land managers, they have reached a much wider audience including Indigenous communities and students.