Forest Conservation University of Toronto

Overview

About this Degree

Forests have traditionally been managed primarily as sources of timber and revenue. However, there is increasing recognition of their immense cultural, social and environmental role, focused particularly by recent United Nations conferences in Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg. Increasingly the focus of forest management has shifted to include biodiversity maintenance, ecological sustainability, and the protection of wildlife and their habitats. Canadians, as custodians of 10% of the remaining global forest cover, and 25% of the undisturbed frontier forest, have both the option and the responsibility to provide global leadership in forest conservation and sustainable forest management. 

Forest Conservation programs at the University of Toronto  prepare students for this critically important role by combining traditional ecological (biology, zoology) and physical (soil science, hydrology) sciences with social sciences. Forest conservationists increasingly focus on complex, emerging social and community issues, such as aboriginal rights and land tenure, protection of wilderness parklands, preservation of urban green space, and the use of forests for carbon sequestration.

Responsible stewardship of our forests and the changing focus from industrial timber production to forest conservation has greatly expanded the range of expertise necessary. Graduates can pursue a wide range of new career opportunities developing in private, government and non-government environmental organizations where forest conservationists increasingly work as members of multidisciplinary teams of environmental and resource managers. Graduates from forest conservation programs can also pursue graduate programs in a wide range of disciplines, including forest conservation, forestry, environmental sciences and international development.