Dieu Merci Domboli Lofemba
Université Laval
Ph.D. candidate
Supervisor: Jean-François Bissonnette
Olivier Villemaire-Côté
Start: 2024-09-03
End: 2028-05-30
Ph.D. candidate
Supervisor: Jean-François Bissonnette
Olivier Villemaire-Côté
Start: 2024-09-03
End: 2028-05-30
Project
Towards more adaptive forest management: conditions and challenges for integrating complex functional networks into forest management systems in Quebec and British ColumbiaFaced with the ecological and social upheavals that characterize the 21st century, forest management in Canada, and more particularly in Quebec, is at a turning point in its evolution. Increasingly unstable climate patterns, new societal expectations, the growing complexity of land use, and the loss of ecosystem resilience call for a fundamental rethinking of how we manage our forests. This thesis proposes to explore the conditions (social, ecological, institutional, regulatory, etc.) that enable or hinder the integration of new forestry practices, particularly that of complex functional networks as a lever for adaptation in forest governance frameworks. Focusing on the provinces of British Columbia and Quebec, this research will adopt a qualitative approach involving a critical review of public policies, semi-structured interviews with forestry sector experts (managers, researchers, local community representatives, industry representatives, NGOs), and prospective scenarios. The objective is twofold: (1) to document perceptions and institutional dynamics around forest management, specifically the complex functional networks approach, and (2) to identify levers for action to strengthen forest resilience in the context of global change.Through a comparative analysis of two provinces, this thesis aims to identify concrete avenues for more adaptive forest management that takes into account the complexity of ecosystems and the human societies that inhabit them. It is part of a broader effort to overhaul forestry practices towards greater resilience, flexibility, and co-construction in an increasingly uncertain world.
