1. Independent Forest Audit overview

1.1 Legal requirement

The Independent Forest Audit Process and Protocol (IFAPP) provides direction in meeting the requirements of Ontario Regulation 319/20 made under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, 1994 (CFSA). This regulation specifies that a forest audit shall be conducted in accordance with Appendix A of the IFAPP and that an audit report shall be prepared in accordance with Appendix D of the IFAPP.

1.2 Intent

The intent of the Independent Forest Audit (IFA), under the CFSA, is to audit the sustainable management of Ontario’s forests and to verify the management of public forests meets social, economic and environmental needs of present and future generations. IFAs provide the people of Ontario with an assessment of how well the audited forests are being managed.

1.3 Objective

IFAs assess a Forest Manager’s (FM) and the ministry’s compliance with the CFSA and the Forest Management Planning Manual (FMPM) in conducting forest management planning, operations, monitoring and reporting activities. The audit also assesses the effectiveness of forest management activities in meeting the objectives set out in the Forest Management Plan (FMP). The IFA provides an opportunity to improve forest management in Ontario through adaptive management.

The objectives of the IFAs are from Ontario Reg 319/20 – conduct of forest audit, section 6. (2):

  1. assess the extent to which forest management and forest management planning activities in the management unit complied with:
    1. the Act and the regulations
    2. the manuals approved under subsection 68 (10) of the Act
    3. any forest management plan approved under subsection 9 (1) of the Act that applied to the forest management activities during the forest audit period
  2. assess the effectiveness of forest management activities in meeting the forest management objectives set out in the forest management plan
  3. compare the forest management activities that were carried out with those that were planned
  4. assess the effectiveness of any action plan implemented in the management unit in response to a previous forest audit report
  5. review and assess a licensee’s compliance with the terms and conditions of a forest resource licence for the management unit by the licensee
  6. assess whether the management unit has been managed in a manner consistent with the principles of sustainability set out in subsection 2 (3) of the Act

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