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VISION
Ensuring the sustainability of Ontario’s privately owned forests now and in the future.
MISSION
Helping each other to become the best possible stewards of our woodlands!
Our Values
As an organization built by enthusiastic and engaged people, committed to using best management practices, we want our woodlots to be:
- Sustainable and productive
- Ecologically healthy and diverse
- Spiritually and physically renewing
Our Value Proposition
We are a community of woodlot stewards that live, work and play in our forests. Together we restore, manage and advocate for healthy forest ecosystems.
High Level Goals
1. Live
Grow a substantial and supportive network of members living in diverse forests throughout Ontario.
2. Work
Promote stewardship that creates forest products from sustainably managed forests today and tomorrow. Celebrate local forest-made products, and the professionals that provide forest services.
3. Play
Promote, through education and mentorship, the benefits of a healthy ecosystem thereby increasing the enjoyment of our forests (spiritual, recreational, and aesthetical). Foster recognition of the environmental benefits of active forest management that also supports rural social and economic health at all levels.
Our Chapter Model
The Ontario Woodlot Association (OWA) is a not-for-profit grassroots organization governed by an elected executive committee, and a volunteer board of directors. The OWA is comprised of a strong network of 21 regional chapters. Our members own and manage woodlots throughout the province and include individuals and organizations that support our goals. We believe that private landowners have a key role to play to ensure that sustainably managed forests remain a part of Ontario’s future. Collectively, we can continue to ensure the healthy future of our private forest resource.
Membership Benefits
- Join a community and access forest stewardship workshops and events
- Keep informed with our magazine “The Ontario Woodlander” and our monthly e-newsletter
- Utilize our Woodlot Buy and Sell Marketplace and Forest Service Provider Directory
- Receive discounts from our Woodland Store and Marks’
- Engage in our social forum or social media channels to get your questions answered
- Support our programs:
- Landowner Education
- Landowner Advocacy
- Project Woodland Watch (Citizen science with Birds Canada)
- Community Forest Owner's Pilot Projects
- Private land forest resource inventory
- FSC Forest Certification
- Carbon Offset Program
- Forest Health Network
About our Woodlots
Ontario woodlots range in size from a few hectares to tens of thousands, and are home to a full range of tree species: pine, cedar spruce, maple, walnut and oak to mention a few. The reasons for owning a woodlot are as diverse as the species within them. Some manage their woodlots for income, some to conserve wildlife habitat and others for a combination of reasons. The common thread that links us together is our desire to manage our woodlots to the best of our abilities and to ensure their viability for generations to come.
