Assessing the Value of Non-Market Environmental Services in the Lake Abitibi Model Forest

One of the constant challenges faced by the natural resources sector is the need to more thoroughly recognize the value of both tangible and intangible non-timber forest products, and to assess and incorporate this value into management planning scenarios and decision making. For commodities such as timber, and some non-timber forest goods such as fur or fish, it is usually a straight forward exercise to assign some kind of direct cash-value, and to determine how much profit will ultimately be created by a specific product. However, for many general environmental services and non-market benefits such as clean air, potable water, or outdoor recreational activity, it can be difficult to determine an actual monetary value. As a result these services, often called intangibles, may not be given the consideration they warrant through forest management planning exercises or in the decision making process.

In recognition of this challenge, this project attempted to assess the value of these non-market environmental services in the Lake Abitibi Model Forest. It was undertaken in partnership with Lakehead University, the Canadian Forest Service, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. The objective was to provide those involved in making decisions affecting the LAMF land base with a framework that captures the annual value of environmental and non-market benefits, and the impacts that management decisions have on the current and future values of environmental and non-market services.

The project built on research originally conducted by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources in Northeastern Ontario in Eco-Region 3E, (where the Lake Abitibi Model Forest is located). This existing effort had quantified environmental services produced by the land base in this Eco-Region. The methodology and approach was then calibrated specifically for the Lake Abitibi Model Forest. The resulting data and information were then transferred to forest management planners and decision makers.

The results of this project have helped lead to a new and objective approach for assessing environmental and non-market values, and potentially to a more equitable process for allocating resources. This in turn has lead to more informed decision-making, and better consideration of the varied services that a forest can provide to society. Although much more work needs to be done in understanding and valuing non-timber environmental services, it is a positive step that society and the forestry sector is beginning to examine and value these services in some kind of tangible and measurable manner. As a result of this project, it has become possible and straight-forward to consider them in forest management planning, and to provide resource managers and the public with a greater understanding of their importance. This framework developed for this project also helped in identifying some of the gaps in the Lake Abitibi Model Forest Local Level Indicators dataset.