New Brunswick’s refocus on quality silviculture supported by AAA

June 17, 2011 - PRLog -- A new regard for quality among New Brunswick’s forest managers is good for the reputation of forestry investment.

This is according to Alternative Asset Analysis, an organization that supports and encourages alternative and ethical investments. It explained that New Brunswick’s forestry industry is beginning to concentrate more on the value of growing quality trees, as opposed to growing more trees. This is backed by reports from the region from the likes of the forestry management professor at the University of New Brunswick, Ted Robak.

He explained that forestry managers are slowly starting to realise that growing high quality trees will increase the return on investment for people putting their money into the industry. He said that high volume forestry is still taking place but that high quality forestry would be a much better idea for the Canadian region. He stated, "In general, silviculture [the management and tending of trees] right now is what we can afford, not what's going to offer the best return on investment.”

He added, "Instead of growing lots of trees of a lower value, you'll be growing perhaps fewer trees of higher value."

AAA’s analysis partner, Anthony Johnson, said that more and more plantation managers in the region, such as Greenwood Management - http://www.gwm-tv.com , which also has successful plantations in Brazil, are ensuring they invest heavily in the silviculture side of forestry management. Trees are kept in a nursery until they are established enough to be transferred, at which stage they are around three years old and are much less likely to fail or need replanting.

Other local forest managers, such as Camille Poitras, who runs a local cedar mill, said she would like to see better quality trees being grown. She added that her sawmill business, which produced hardwood would benefit from a higher quality raw product.

Mark Arsenault, the president of the New Brunswick Forest Products Association, added, "The policies that we have now don't seek to maximize the wood and better returns at the end that we know we can get."

AAA is keen to encourage investment in sustainably managed forestry as a means to help reduce deforestation and increase the amount of land given over to forestry. Responsible silviculture is essential for the future of forestry investment, claimed AAA.

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The remit of Alternative Asset Analysis is to analyse and provide news on the global performance of a wide range of alternative asset classes including, but not restricted to, commodities, real estate, forestry, foreign exchange, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital.