An $865,000 Ontario government investment will help private woodlot owners in Leeds and Grenville find new buyers for wood that is currently unused or discarded, while supporting jobs and the development of forest-based products, Brockville reported.
MPP Steve Clark and Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products Kevin Holland announced the funding on Thursday at Limerick Forest in North Grenville.
Of the total investment, $790,000 will come through the province’s Forest Biomass Program. The funding will support the OWA’s Wood Stewardship Program by helping create jobs, purchase equipment and develop new markets for forest biomass, including wood by-products that are currently underused or discarded.
The programme aims to connect private businesses with unused forest material while encouraging better management of privately owned forests.
Natural forests cover about 140,000 hectares in Leeds and Grenville, accounting for roughly 40% of the region’s land area. Around 80% of those forests are privately owned.
Under the programme, up to 100,000 cubic metres of forest biomass is expected to be used over five years. The initiative will seek to develop new markets and expand the region’s forestry sector into products such as biochar, compost and mulch.
The OWA will also establish three regional networks to connect private landowners, forestry service providers and businesses in the forest sector. The initiative builds on the association’s Community Forest Owners Cooperative Pilot, which received $91,000 from the Forest Biomass Program in 2023.
A further $75,000 will support OWA activities including workshops, conferences, publications and partnerships focused on sustainable forest management on private woodlots.
Limerick Forest owner Rob Ross said the investment would benefit private landowners with underused plantations and woodlots in the region.
“There are a lot of underutilized plantations and woodlots on private land in our area that will benefit from this investment,” Ross said.
He said greater access to markets for underused wood could support more sustainable forest management and benefit the wider region.
North Grenville Mayor Nancy Peckford also welcomed the investment, saying it would create new opportunities for private woodlot owners and support the use of forest resources.
“This investment in the Ontario Woodlot Association will help strengthen that work by creating new opportunities for private woodlot owners, supporting innovation in the forest bioeconomy and making better use of a valuable renewable resource,” Peckford said.
