Canadian Forest Service links

Living laboratories

• National research forests:  advancing sustainable forest management through generations of innovative research
• Opportunities for collaboration
• Key findings
• Making a difference

Students from 1930's working
on a permanent sample plots.

The forest industry and forestry-dependent communities are challenged with a variety of social, economic and environmental changes. In order to help address questions from industry, woodlot owners and the scientific community, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) maintains two national research forests: Acadia and Petawawa. These living laboratories have a long legacy of scientific data that provide researchers and practitioners with long-term trends to address forestry issues for both the present and the future.

Today, Acadia and Petawawa research forests are home to many important research studies encompassing areas from silviculture, tree genetics, fire, to remote sensing techniques, all of which inform best practices in forest management.