In many parts of the world, including British Columbia, forestry has received a reputation for being an industry that if practised badly can cause major damage to the environment. It can also greatly affect the well-being of people dependent on forests. Is this reputation deserved and, if so, what can be done to reduce the adverse impacts of forestry? How can forestry be changed so that it is actually beneficial to the environment and to the people that live in or near forests? How can it better integrate with other land uses so that there are no adverse cumulative effects? Such questions require a holistic, integrated approach that transcends the natural and social sciences.
Dr. John Innes came to UBC from Switzerland, a country in which forestry and foresters are held in high esteem. Having trained at the University of Cambridge in England, his research career has been closely related to the impact of humans on the environment. His current research covers a range of different topics, although since coming to UBC he has concentrated on looking at ways to make forestry practices more sustainable. He has been working on the criteria that define sustainable forest management, together with the indicators that measure whether or not these criteria are being achieved. Much of this work can be found on an innovative web-based
knowledge management system.
John currently holds the Forest Renewal BC Chair of Forest Management in the Department of Forest Resources Management. His work however extends beyond British Columbia, and he currently has research projects in the Yukon and further afield (China, Mexico, Brazil, Australia). These cover a wide range of issues covering both the natural and social sciences, and including the relationship between forests and slope stability, sustainable development in China, community forestry, salvage logging impacts on biodiversity, climate change, cultural values and forest certification. Funded by a range of sources, including both NSERC and SSHRC, most of this research is undertaken by post-doctoral researchers and graduate students in the
Sustainable Forest Management Research Group.
Why such a range of research topics? Today, forest managers need to meet many different demands. In the past, they have focused primarily on environmental issues, trying to ensure that forestry minimizes its impact on the environment. Today, the links between the physical and human environments are better recognized, although we are only just beginning to understand them. Human well-being and the health of the environment are intimately linked, and forest managers play a key role in maintaining these links.