Forestry Co-op Halts Cuts To Support Wildlife
A local forestry operation has given migratory birds a break this year.
The Medway Community Forestry Co-op introduced a silent season to stop cutting of trees over the 15,000 hectares they hold on former Bowater/Medway lands in Annapolis County during the month of June.
Executive Director Mary Jane Rodger says their aim was to help breeding migratory birds hear each other to find a mate.
“For migratory birds, where there’s the loudest dawn chorus. You have migratory birds who have made an extensive journey to Nova Scotia and they’re tying to find a mate. It’s really important that there’s silence, and that’s where the silent season comes from.”
Rodger says the moratorium on cutting has the added benefit of not destroying any nests.
The actions of the Co-op help them meet the migratory bird convention act to protect migratory birds, their eggs and nest from destruction due to wood harvesting, hunting, trafficking and commercialization.
Rodger says the silent season is now an annual event and the co-op will take advantage of the lull to collect data on migratory bird species.
She says they’ve trained a staff member to go into the forest between 5:00am and 10:00am each morning to count the number of birds and species within their license area.
The Co-op has received help from Kejimkujik National Park and Dr. Cindy Staicer from Dalhousie University to develop the methodologies used in their bird counts.
Rodger says the numbers are useful to determine a baseline for future study.
“It’s important data to gather year by year to see how populations are fluctuating. And there’s so many different variables whether it be climate change or forestry or food abundance, whatever it may be. “
Dr. Staicer is hosting a webinar at 2:00pm Tuesday to discuss migratory bird management.
To register for the webinar, click here.
Rodger says as a for-profit entity that invites membership from the public, the Medway Community Forestry Co-op is always looking for ways to get their product to market.
One of the groups they’re trying to attract is craftspeople.
But by the nature of their work, Rodger says it’s difficult to get them in one place to speak with them as a group.
The Co-op hit upon the idea of hosting a craft market to bring those artists under one roof.
This summer they will once again host their annual Forest Market to bring together those who build and create art, as well as those who forage food or otherwise create with nature.
Rodgers says there is no charge for vendors to participate and they’re not looking to make a buck out of every small venture they do.
“Generally, these are just good education and outreach events for us.”
The Forest Market will be held in Annapolis Royal on August 16.
Rodgers says they have reached out to past participants, but also hope to hear from anyone wishing to be involved this year.
Reported by Ed Halverson
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson