Should Ontario Update Its Forest Biodiversity Protection Rules?

Official title: Revisions to the Forest Management Guide for Conserving Biodiversity at the Stand and Site Scales (the Stand and Site Guide)(source: Environmental Registry)

Closed Regulations & Permits Environment & Climate Natural Resources
Ontario is revising the guide that tells forestry companies how to protect wildlife, water, and biodiversity when logging Crown forests. The changes would update protections for species at risk, bird nests, wetlands, and waterways based on new science and Indigenous knowledge.

Why This Matters

Love hiking, fishing, or camping in Ontario's forests? These rules shape what you'll find there in 20 years. The changes affect how much habitat gets protected for wildlife and whether streams stay healthy. If you care about the balance between logging jobs and forest conservation, this is your chance to weigh in.

What Could Change

Protection zones around some bird nests and species at risk would shrink, opening more area to logging. But four other at-risk species would get larger buffer zones. Road-building rules near wetlands would change—some restrictions loosened, others tightened. Environmental impact studies for provincially significant wetlands would no longer be required.

Key Issues

  • Should buffer zones around bird nests and species at risk be reduced to allow more logging?
  • Should environmental impact studies for provincially significant wetlands be eliminated?
  • How should road construction rules near wetlands and waterways change?
  • Are the proposed protections for high-risk self-sustaining trout lakes adequate?

How to Participate

  1. This consultation closed on January 19, 2026. Comments were accepted through the Ontario Regulatory Registry.