Earlier this week, I met with the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Forestry with the main author of the recent independent report on forestry practices, Professor Lahey. This is an excellent group of women and men (gender balanced), with industry reps, NGO's, academia and the Mi'kmaq. The group provides advice on the implementation of the report. One of the major pieces is a new Forest Management Guide, which has been worked on with a targeted group of Nova Scotians to provide further feedback. They meet again in the coming weeks to go over the first draft. The changes will result in less clear-cutting/even-aged management and more attention to biodiversity and wildlife. We are already practicing more ecological forestry since I responded to the report, by enforcing more retention of the most long-lived trees of the Acadian Forest. This transformation is critical for a more sustainable industry and healthier forests. #forestry #ecologicalforestry #biodiversity #acadianforest