A Hopeful Vision for Maritime Forests

We are delighted to present the Maritime Forest Accord (forestaccord.ca), a new resource and storytelling hub. The idea behind the project emerged during a week-long event that brought together participants from Medway Community Forest Cooperative, Mi’kmawey Forestry, the University of New Brunswick, the Wolasteqey Nation in New Brunswick, and Community Forests International.

Together, we explored how we might help the Wabanaki forest (also known as the Acadian forest) flourish for future generations. Conversations gravitated toward the challenges encountered by small private landowners, who care deeply about their forests but often face challenges aligning their management decisions with their values, including a lack of reliable information.

In response, we created the Maritime Forest Accord, a website dedicated to uplift the vibrant community of people committed to forest stewardship in this region. We hope this website serves as a central resource hub for people and groups who care about the special forest in this part of the world.

Because of land grants that incentivized European settlement in the Maritimes, 40% of the region’s forestland is now owned by individual families. While the project seeks to support these family forests owners, it also highlights the importance of Indigenous forest use and rights. Respecting Aboriginal title and learning from Indigenous forest knowledge is essential to a future where the Wabanaki forest thrives again.

Project partnerships have evolved since the week-long retreat that inspired the original conception of the project, and a small community of like-minded individuals and organizations is beginning to engage regularly on issues of forest management. We’d love for you to be part of it. In the new year, we are hoping to take this budding movement offline through discussion groups and field-days highlighting different approaches to Wabanaki forest care. Whether you’re a landowner, forest professional or friend of the forest, there is room for you in the movement for more ecological and just forest use and care.

Please take a few minutes to look around, share your hopes for the future of the Wabanaki forest, and fill out the website form with your contact information if you’d like to receive updates about this project.