What can you do?
Attend workshops on woodlot
management, treeplanting, seed
collecting.
Photo by P. Mabee
Private landowners can contribute to the conservation of large woodlands by working with neighbours and adjoining landowners to conserve and expand forests. There are many agencies and conservation organizations to turn to for help and advice.
- Get in touch with your local Stewardship Council.
- Join a local chapter of the Ontario Woodlot Association.
- Attend forestry workshops organized by LWCC partners and other forestry organizations.
- Find out more about financial incentives available to woodlot owners.
- Create a stewardship plan for your property.
- Consider longterm conservation options for you property, such as donation or conservation easements. Contact the Kawartha Heritage Conservancy or your nearest land trust to discuss your options.
Maintain existing forest areas
High-grading destroys wildlife
habitat and reduces the amount of
timber available for future harvests.
- Avoid fragmenting large forest blocks. Concentrate disturbances, such as buildings and roads, along the edges of forests; keep any interior trails narrow.
- Preserve existing old-growth features, such as fallen logs, cavity trees, and snags.
- Plan any forest harvest to retain a variety of types and ages of trees and habitat features. Avoid high-grading, which "takes the best and leaves the rest." Planning help is available.
- Our American beech and butternut trees are threatened by introduced bark diseases. If you have healthy specimens of these species in your woodland, please do not harvest them. Report their condition and loaction to the Forest Gene Conservation Association.
Expand forest areas
Fallen logs help retain moisture in
the soil and provide habitat
for salamanders.
- Expand your woodland through reforestation, or by allowing natural regeneration.
- Manage for shapes that create the least amount of edge. For example, plant trees in small open fields that intrude into woodland, and allow unimportant trails to grow over. Circular forest patches maximize forest interior, while square patches are better than narrow strips.
- Create corridors of planted trees, vegetated fence lines or stream valleys and bottomland to connect small patches of woods.
- Your neighbors may be interested in working with you to connect your woodland to theirs with corridors of natural vegetation.
- Plant native trees or shrubs that are best suited to your climate and soils. Avoid exotics such as Norway maple, or its several cultivars, which has proven to be invasive.
- Visit the FGCA's web site for lists of native species in your area.
