As a leader in sustainable forest management, Canada constantly seeks new approaches to maintaining the health and productivity of its forests. An evolving concept increasingly being applied across the country is integrated land-use planning.

Integrated land-use planning seeks to balance the economic, social and cultural opportunities in a specific area of forest with the need to maintain and enhance the health of the area's forest. It is a process whereby all interested parties come together to make decisions about how the land and its resources should be used and managed, and to coordinate their activities in a sustainable fashion. It holds that maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem is the primary consideration.

Applying integrated land-use planning in Canada's forest is a complex job. It must take place within the country's unique forest ownership and tenure mosaic; address the needs of many users, large and small; weigh in the important non-economic values that Canadians associate with their forests; and, maintain and enhance the health of the forest.

Most of Canada's forest (93 percent) is publicly owned-71 percent under provincial or territorial jurisdiction and 22 percent under federal purview. The remaining seven percent is privately owned. In some parts of the country, an increasing amount of boreal forest is coming under Aboriginal jurisdiction as land issues are settled.

The provinces and territories manage their own natural resources, including forests, except on federal lands such as First Nations reserves and national parks. Each province and territory sets the policies, legislation and other regulatory matters for its own resources.

The federal government's mandate concerning forests includes managing the forests on its own lands as well as international trade and relations, coordinating responsibility for healthy forests, increasing Aboriginal participation, and national and international reporting obligations.

Forest companies share in the responsibility for forest management. Companies with long-term licences to forest land pay cutting fees to the government, and produce plans to carry out sustainable management in return for harvesting timber.

These ownership and management patterns have a profound impact on land-use planning in the boreal forest. Integrated land-use planning may provide a way to address the issues that arise from this ownership and management mosaic.

Also central to the planning process are the many economic activities that take place in the forest. This vast expanse of woodland-covering about half the country's landmass-supports some of Canada's most important industries. While forestry is the main industry in many boreal areas, it often vies with other economic activities for use of the same tract of land.

At the same time, millions of Canadians look to their forests for other benefits- aesthetic, environmental, cultural, historical, recreational and spiritual values that weave into the national fabric.

While integrated land-use planning is an evolving concept that is being implemented to varying degrees across the country, it already has success stories.

The vision that Canadians have for their forests is clear. As articulated in the National Forest Strategy, Canadians want the forest's long-term health to be maintained and enhanced for the benefit of all living things and for the social, cultural, environmental and economic well-being of all Canadians, now and in the future. Achieving the cooperation and consensus of multiple stakeholders with often conflicting needs is a challenging task. Integrated land-use planning is an approach that is proving successful in meeting this challenge and in achieving the vision that Canadians embrace for their forests.

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