Leftover wood from the construction of a large hydroelectric project in Labrador, Canada will be used as biomass fuel.
This 824 MW hydroelectric generating facility, called the Muskrat Falls project, resulted in a significant amount of timber being cut down. That timber is now being chipped and sent to companies in Europe and the United States for use as biomass fuel.
According to The Chronicle Herald, the Muskrat Falls project is a partnership between the Innu Nation of Labrador and JP Forestry Environmental. This large project will boast approximately 70 new jobs for qualified Innu and other local people, and is to be completed in two phases. The first phase will involve the harvest of 400,000 cubic meters of wood that was cut between 2013 and 2015. The second phase will be an ongoing harvest of 185,000 cubic meters each year.
Innu National Grand chief Gregory Rich explained to The Chronicle Herald that the Innu Nation had been frequently approached with similar proposals for forestry development in their territory—but that this proposal was the first in years that actually made sense for them.
The indigenous government had been working with the provincial government to develop sustainable forestry opportunities in Labrador since 2011, and that the Muskrat Falls project is consistent with the Forest Management Plan for that region.
“JP Forestry is very pleased that we were able to work together with Innu Nation to conclude an agreement. Using wood that would otherwise go to waste and as well as wood that will be sustainably harvested under an ecosystem-based forestry plan in partnership with the Innu Nation is important to our buyers,” said CEO of JP Forestry, Greg Penney.
“Innu Nation’s Forest Guardians will play a key role in monitoring the harvesting operation to protect forest function,” said Rich.
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