Identifying and evaluating the effectiveness of best management practices to mitigate mercury contamination in managed forests ********************

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Canada has vast forested lands, and forest management forms the basis of one of the country's most important natural resource industries. At the same time, forests naturally supply numerous environmental services, such as providing clean water and helping to sustain fisheries. When forests are harvested, Best Management Practices are followed to help sustain as many environmental services as possible. However, the effectiveness of current forestry Best Management Practices in protecting waterways and aquatic ecosystems from mercury contamination, an important environmental issue in Canada and globally, are practically unknown. While most recent research points to a link between forest harvesting and increased mercury contamination of water and aquatic organisms, field strategies for reducing or eliminating this problem have not been systematically tested. In this Strategic Partnership proposal, we will address this lack of research and sound science-based mitigation strategies by working closely with forest company partners and government regulators to: 1) examine how different Best Management Practice strategies affect mercury mobility, reactions in the environment that make mercury more toxic, and accumulation in aquatic food webs; 2) conduct field and laboratory experiments to better understand the mechanisms responsible for the most successful Best Management Practice strategies; and, 3) assemble a regional model that will assist forest managers in choosing the Best Management Practice strategies for their contexts. Mercury issues go well beyond the forestry industry, but this research will provide an opportunity for the Canadian forestry industry to demonstrate global leadership in combatting mercury pollution. This work is also particularly relevant for northern indigenous communities where some traditional lands may be both mercury-polluted and under pressure for sustainable forest management, but without the scientific direction to responsibly proceed. ************