The private forest development assistance program—and the same goes for public forests—began in 1972. It therefore has 40 years of experience. The turnaround time for the forest in our region is about 60 years. There are still about 20 or so years before the first cycle is complete.
The current challenges have to do with staff training and new technologies for the development and harvesting work. In fact, we are committed to using optimized and mechanized technology that helps us manage the forest not as an entity, but by single-tree selection. That way, we are kind of adopting the approach that has been used in Europe for a number of years now.
What we need now to make the transition is time. We have to make the transition in a way that is respectful to the employees and we have to train new staff. In the very short term, we need funding to finance the work. Single-tree harvesting is far more expensive than clear-cutting or overcutting. We are working on sustainable development, on optimizing the forest. Even though our local industry is already making an effort and a significant financial contribution, we still need the Canadian government to contribute financially, a bit like it used to in the past with what was called the eastern plan, which lasted about 12 years, I believe. There is expertise related to the work, training and carrying out the work.
I would also like to add that there used to be a forestry model in the area that unfortunately no longer exists. At the time, it was funded by the Canadian government. It literally served as a foundation, a research centre on the ground, for distributing expertise and knowledge on the ground.