PROVINCE INVESTS IN FUTURE ABORIGINAL FORESTERS

VANCOUVER – A $120,000 grant to the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Forestry will help increase Aboriginal enrolment and participation and meet the growing demand for future professional foresters, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell announced today.

“British Columbia is recognized as a global leader in forestry education and practices, and actively recruiting foresters from communities throughout B.C. further supports that,” said Bell. “As their careers progress, these students will be developing policies that ensure we remain world leaders at growing trees and resource utilization for generations to come.”

The funding supports the faculty’s multi-faceted First Nations Forestry Program. One key program area is the bridging partnerships UBC has developed with post-secondary institutions outside of the Lower Mainland that allow students to begin their forestry studies and careers in different areas of the province. Agreements with Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology in Merritt and Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops enable students to receive UBC credits for courses completed at those institutions or directly transfer into forestry programs at UBC.

“Our growing partnerships with other institutions extend a UBC education to students in areas throughout the province,” said Jack Saddler, dean of forestry at UBC. “The university is promoting these opportunities to First Nations to increase the recruitment of Aboriginal students in our forestry programs, develop research projects and to build relationships with First Nations and forestry communities.”

“Increasing Aboriginal enrolment, involvement and content in UBC’s forestry program will help bring forward Aboriginal values and traditional knowledge that will assist in addressing complex forestry issues and thereby ensure future sustainable forest practices,” said the British Columbia First Nations Forestry Council’s Keith Atkinson.

Funding will also help UBC’s Faculty of Forestry to strengthen the Aboriginal and community forestry content in its programs and to provide students with tools for understanding the new and emerging opportunities for forestry and natural resources management in Canada.

Future activities will include an international conference on indigenous forestry as well as improved opportunities for learning with forest-based communities in B.C. UBC is also working towards developing learning opportunities in business, land-use planning and wood products processing for First Nations with recently awarded tenures as well as establishing community-based research partnerships and organizing delegations from Aboriginal communities to visit and participate in faculty activities.

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Contact:

Sophia Proctor

Public Affairs Officer

Ministry of Forests and Range

250 387-4592

Christoph Clodius

Director of Development

UBC Faculty of Forestry

604 822-8716

Keith Atkinson

CEO

B.C. First Nations Forestry Council

604 921-4488




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