Found in the Clayoquot Forest Communities: green and culturally appropriate building design

With the recent spotlight on the Attawapiskat First Nation, the ongoing crisis in First Nations housing around the country is finally being given the attention it deserves. There has never been a better time to share the work being done by, and with, the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations in Clayoquot Sound to solve their housing issues.

Recognizing that working together is the only way forward, and that solutions will come from First Nations communities, the Clayoquot Forest Communities and Ecotrust Canada are working with Nuu-chah-nulth communities in Clayoquot Sound (and other partners) to design and create green and culturally appropriate homes and community buildings. The goal is to create a housing style that meets the needs of wet, west coast living, and which factors in the economy and ecosystems of Clayoquot Sound.

The project also aims to:

• Recognize both present circumstances and future prospects;
• Embrace the wisdom to be found in traditional values and use traditional knowledge as a sound starting ground;
• Use local resources and local labour, thus building local capacity;
• Grow and restore community skills.

To this end, the design of the homes will take into account cultural design elements such as the traditional long house design; use of locally harvested and milled materials such as cedar; local geography; climate; and community demographics.

Why the need?

To combat overcrowding issues, it has been estimated that there is a need for over 350 affordable, durable homes to be built in Clayoquot’s First Nation communities over the next 10 years. Coupled with this is a desire to change how current homes are designed and built in an effort to overcome issues caused by weather, projected climate changes and recent use of poor quality, non-local materials.

The Eastern Ontario Model Forest has just released the first in its new Forest Certification video series.   Chain of Custody Certification provides a visually appealing and understandable overview of this often complex subject matter.  Stay tuned for three more videos in this Forest Certification series to be released in the next couple of months featuring: private land certification; community forest certification; and maple syrup certification.  Please click the link below that leads to EOMF's new YouTube EOMF channel and Chain of Custody Certification video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw1d48JVpdo

In response to a request by the International Model Forest Network Secretariat (IMFN), based in Ottawa, the Canadian Model Forest Network (CMFN) and the Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF) were pleased to co-host two separate international delegations for a day each - one from Sweden and one from Africa. In each instance, carefully chosen agenda’s and relevant venues were planned to transfer knowledge to the visitors on their chosen topics of interest. On the flipside, we also learned about their unique issues, challenges and initiatives.

The delegation from Sweden included the Swedish Minister for Rural Affairs, Mr. Eskil Erlandsson; Sweden's Ambassador to Canada, Mr. Teppo Tauriainen; the Director of the Swedish Forest Agency, Mr. Peter Blombeck; and their entourage. Leanne Elliott, General Manager of the CMFN, gave an informative overview of the Network and also outlined a new Tri-lateral Agreement between Canada, Sweden and Chile that set-out parameters for project collaboration. This Agreement was signed at CMFN’s 2011 Annual General Meeting in June.

The Swedes were also interested in learning about major landscape issues facing the EOMF as well as their Forest Certification Program and how they engage with First Nations. Sweden shares a similar settled landscape fabric to Eastern Ontario's so their challenge too is to engage and educate private woodlot owners on sustainable forest management practices to ensure the health and longevity of this vital resource. Sweden is also home to an indigenous group called the Sami - whose culture is traditionally based on reindeer herding amidst the mountains that wind through the northern and central areas of the country. Encompassing their traditional lands is the Vilhelmina Model Forest which helps to conserve and support their culture, and has developed sophisticated GIS-modelling tools to help the Suni's and other Swedes to better understand the factors impacting herding and the forest in general.

This day of focused meetings in an FSC-certified log chalet, was capped off my a great lunch and a guided tour of sustainable forest management practices performed by Geoff McVey, Forest Manager, and Rob Ross, Forest Technician, at Limerick Forest in the United Counties of Leeds-Grenville (UCLG). UCLG Warden Mel Campbell, and County Councillor Doug Struthers also welcomed the delegation, presented them with gifts, and participated in the day's session.

The CMFN, EOMF and IMFN co-hosted a delegation visiting Ottawa from the African Model Forest Network (AMFN). For this visit, the AMFN had meetings at, and toured, Temple's Sugar Camp in Lanark County. Their principle interest for the Canadian visit was to gain new insights into developing their own non-timber forest product (NTFP) industries by learning about the Canadian experience.

Leanne Elliott from CMFN outlined several NTFP projects being conducted by Model Forests throughout Canada including the cultivation of blueberries and other berry crops, mushrooms and other forest edibles, eco- and ethno-tourism development with South American indigenous tribes, and the production of a Goods from the Woods Directory.

Mark Richardson, EOMF's General Manager, described the local maple syrup industry as well as how and why using forest certification is an effective management tool. We were pleased to learn many of their surrounding forests in the Congo basin are FSC-certified - so were asked to also describe the Chain of Custody Certification process. We also touched on some potential opportunities around the development of other NTFP's such as wood turning.

The gracious and friendly African delegates described that most of their NTFP management is performed by women cooperatives, or 'platforms', that come together from surrounding villages to work on projects that utilize 'waste' wood gathered from the jungle floor. One ongoing project that has proven the model, is turning gorgeous exotic wood pens for the export market. Facilitation of the machinery and training was enabled by the Lac-Saint-Jean Model Forest in Quebec who has had a long-standing working relationship with the french-speaking countries represented in the African Model Forest Network. Another initiative involves the cultivation of heritage foods from their forest locales - including Giant Snails - once a popular staple among their ancestors. Our guests came from Cameroon (home-base for the AMFN), the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic. Now that we share coordinates, we also hope to share and transfer more knowledge with them into the future as needs and opportunities arise.