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Denise Henning and Rob Penner
Managing the Lungs of the Earth -
University College of the North and its experience with Boreal forest conservation
By Ksenia Prints
With its campuses spread across the Boreal Forest of Manitoba, the University College of the North (UCN) is intent on learning and preserving what is already all around it.
“UCN in its mandate is vital to the role of Boreal Forest Conservation,” said Denise K. Henning, Ph.D., UCN’s President & Vice-Chancellor. Henning, a member of the Cherokee\Choctaw First Nations, views the survival of the Boreal Forest as a top priority for the institution.
Amidst renovations and expansions in its Thompson and The Pas campuses, UCN has the seemingly difficult job of balancing the needs of development and conservation.
But Dr. Henning and Rob Penner, the outgoing Dean of Health and Applied Science, are certain this can be done. Sustainability guides all of UCN’s projects and degree programs and also instructs the institution’s own development and expansion.
“We’re looking at what technology can be implemented here, in northern Manitoba, that can reduce energy consumption within our regions,” said Penner. “As an institution, we’re going to be adopting green technologies within the buildings that we’re putting up.”
“It’s more than just talking about sustainability, it’s also demonstrating sustainability and what we do as an institution,” Penner added.
And there is a lot the institution does. UCN has over 2,600 students in its two main campuses in the Pas and Thompson and twelve regional centres across the Boreal Forest’s northern communities. It is Manitoba’s newest post-secondary institution, one guided by sustainable development and natural conservation.
UCN is involved in various research projects around the Boreal forest. An example of one such project is the non-timber forest products research and development.
Through this project, UCN researchers partner with Boreal Forest communities like Moose Lake and Cranberry Portage to develop small industries based on renewable resources found in the area. If determined these resources can be harvested in a sustainable manner overtime, UCN enters a long-term agreement with the communities and helps them develop small-scale industries around the resource.
Thus indigenous resources like essential oils or herbal medicines are turned into sources of profit for local residents, many of whom are UCN students themselves.
Other UCN programs, like Natural Resource Management and a short term Wilderness Skills in the forest, also focus on teaching students Boreal Forest conservation and examining the area’s natural cycles, environment and habitat. Examining the interdependence of human beings with the forest is an important aspect of the program.
“It’s a holistic program that looks at all aspects of the biogeography of the Boreal Forest and looks at it with a holistic perspective in the sense that everything we do is related to everything else,” said Penner.
New research projects focused on climate change and how it relates to the Boreal Forest are also being initiated.
All these programs intend to “find northern solutions to northern problems,” said Henning. They enrich the lives of local communities and encourage the conservation and prosperity of the area.
“We recognize that UCN and its researchers have a significant contribution to make to furthering an understanding of the role of the Boreal Forest.”
Unlike many other projects around the Boreal Forest, development does not come at the expense of conservation at UCN.
“Our development in our science areas is directly related to Boreal Forest research and resource sustainability,” said Henning. “There’s major economic development that’s going on in the North, and we have to be very, very careful as to not destroy our bear population, for example.”
“We try to be very thoughtful in our processes as we’re developing.”
To ensure all projects maintain the dignity and ensure the preservation of the area and its inhabitants, UCN professors and staff continuously engage in community dialogues.
“We’re situated in the Boreal Forest, so a part of our mandate is to serve the people and communities that have lived and worked in the area and learn from them,” said Penner. “We have a long history of people living and working in a sustainable manner within this environment, and there’s a lot we can learn from the people that we serve.”
“As an institution, we’re not just granting knowledge to others, we’re also learning from the communities we’re working with all the time.”
In the end, UCN’s quest for Boreal Forest conservation is more than just the stuff of high education. It is applicable to all and directly useful to many.
“It’s not just theoretical, I can see it my backyard,” said Penner.
“It’s very real for the forest and the communities living out here. They are keepers of an awful lot of information about how we do development and what it means to live sustainably on this land.”
