Forestry’s research has challenged traditional models of forest economics by introducing a new paradigm of economics that incorporates the basic features of sustainability, specifically sustainable forest management.
Research activities include:
- Economics of community-based forest management systems
- Valuation of ecosystem services including social, cultural, and land use activities of First Nations people
- Non-market signals of resource scarcity
- Game theoretical models of co-management
- International trade of forest products, timber pricing, forest tenure, and institutional economics
- Social choice theory and forest management
On the climate change front, some research will focus on the production of wood and how fibre fuels can be balanced with the continued provision of other ecosystem services, including the maintenance of biodiversity, storage of carbon, and mitigation of climate change. Other research employs a combination of field work, modeling, remote sensing, life cycle analysis, and analysis of forest inventory data.