An Agenda for Studying Human and Ecosystem Health in the Boreal Forest

ABSTRACT

The Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE) in Sustainable Forestry Management is a new research initiative in Canada that examines management practices that protect boreal forest resources while permitting controlled economic development. A critical factor in the viability of such practices is socioeconomic and cultural acceptability in the communities of the region. Health is an essential factor in this dimension of sustainability. The NCE includes a health component that examines issues of human and ecosystem health related to boreal forest communities in western and northern Canada. These may be direct, involving direct health effects on the human body, or indirect, mediated by social mechanisms. Communities in the region are generally small, remote, limited in economic resources, and support a mixed economic development of forest products, oil and gas, and traditional aboriginal activities. The small and dispersed population and the time frame for the study do not permit application of the usual methods of broad-based community health research. Instead, emphasis is placed on four main elements with a variety of robust and sometimes qualitative methods to suit the problems. The four elements are: (1) ”Population health,“ a conceptual model of determinants of health, as interpreted for boreal forest communities; (2) application of the population health model to anticipate and prevent human health problems associated with various scenarios of sustainable forestry management; (3) occupational health and safety issues associated with increased activity in the forest products sector; and (4) large-scale ecosystem change and human health. The NCE presents an unusual opportunity to study both the ecosystem and human health implications of an ecological intervention. Its activities may provide insight into the complex relationship between human and ecosystem health.