About Us

The Sustainable Forest Management Network

The Sustainable Forest Management Network (SFM Network) was one of Canada’s Network for Centres of Excellence (NCE). Established in 1995, and now completed, the Network starrted from a foundation of researchers from a range of disciplines working with partners from industry, universities, government, Aboriginal peoples and non-governmental organizations to explore the very foundations of sustainable forest management. Through rigorous scientific peer-reviewed research, Network partners and researchers are discovering new solutions to some of the most perplexing challenges facing Canada’s forests today.

Five criteria common to all Networks of Centres of Excellence drive the SFM Network:

  • Research Excellence: As a result of more than a decade of knowledge building, the Sustainable Forest Management Network (SFMN) was internationally-recognized for delivering a world class interdisciplinary program that undertook relevant university-based research. Through the SFM Network, diverse sectors were drawn into a partnership of funding, planning, and implementing sustainable forest management research. The SFM Network funded 31 projects that linked over 180 pre-eminent researchers and graduate students across Canada with our government, industry, Aboriginal, and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners, and with other agencies and research organizations, in Canada and abroad.
  • Networking and Partnerships: SFM Network base funding was through the Federal Government’s Network of Centres of Excellence program, which is overseen and funded, in our case, through 2 different granting councils in partnership with Industry Canada. Additional funding was through partnerships with the provincial governments and federal government departments, forest industries, Aboriginal Groups, non-governmental organizations, and institutional partners.
  • Highly Qualified Personnel
  • Knowledge Exchange and Technology Extension: The knowledge exchange and technology extension (KETE) program of the Sustainable Forest Management Network (SFMN) is designed to promote the transfer and implementation of new information and research results to Network partners. Knowledge exchange in the context of the Network refers to a two-way exchange of information; information needs and research priorities from SFMN partner organizations to the Network and research results from the Network to our partners. This two-way exchange enables the SFMN to design a research program and develop extension products that meet the needs of our partners as they develop policies, management strategies and operational practices to ensure Canada’s forests are managed sustainably.
  • Network Management

Here is a list of the AFMN Researchers who participated throughout the years.