Forestry industry stakeholders will come together and pursue 21st-century solutions at the Island Wood Industries Forum in October.
Hosted by the Tseshaht First Nation, Vancouver Island Economic Alliance’s third Island Wood Industries Forum’ will be held on Oct. 12, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Alberni Athletic Centre.
The VIEA will share data from its recent Waste Wood Recovery pilot project with the K’omoks and Qualicum First Nations – Cindy Stern of Stern Sustainable Solutions, Graham Sakaki of VIU’s Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute, and Guy Wright, Natural Resources Manager with K’omoks Economic Development Corporation.
The B.C. government has recently released its modernization plan for BC Forest Policy, and a ministry representative will speak to details of this plan.
Chief Robert Dennis Sr. (Emchayiik) of the Huu-ay-aht First Nation and Shannon Janzen, VP and Chief Forester with Western Forest Products will share their stories from the path towards economic reconciliation in the forest sector.
(The ‘State of the Island’ Economic Summit 2021, slated for Oct. 27–28 at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre in Nanaimo, will feature a session on the emerging Indigenous economy with panelists from several First Nation development corporations on the Island. This conference is a hybrid event with a virtual component.)
While the agenda is still “under construction,” organizers have promised that they will also share news of new ventures and initiatives.
This is an opportunity for industry stakeholders to come together and consider these and other issues and opportunities important to the industry.
The Island Wood Industries Forum is of particular interest to anyone directly involved in forestry and wood manufacturing. Previous forums (2018 and 2019) have focused on issues and opportunities associated with access to fibre, innovative manufacturing, government policy, and business cases for attracting investment to new value-added wood products.
Previous agendas have focused on issues and opportunities associated with access to fibre, fire hazard mitigation, waste wood data analysis, changes in government policy and the Coastal Forest Recovery Program.
This forum follows years of work by VIEA to help solve the problem of access to fibre that continues to inhibit diversification of value-added wood manufacturing on Vancouver Island. Inland, MNP, San Group, TFL44 LP and Western Forest Products are sponsoring the Island Wood Industries Forum. To learn more about registration go online to viea.ca and follow the link for the Island Wood Industries Forum.
