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This paper investigates the practices of the value-added wood products industry in British Columbia (BC) with respect to innovativeness using the results of an online survey. The survey employed an indirect self-evaluation scale to assess the propensity to create and (or) adopt new products, processes, and business systems. Using chain of custody certification as an example of business systems innovation, this study also investigated the attitudes of the value-added wood products manufacturers, who were already certified or who may become certified, towards innovation in this form. Results show that the respondents rated themselves as more innovative with respect to business systems innovation compared with product and process innovations. Overall, innovation levels were low in the BC value-added wood products sector, a result which was confirmed in the case of chain of custody certification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercial forestry has played an important role in the Canadian economy. Yet, First Nations (FNs) communities have not shared equitably in the benefits. Since 2002, the government of British Columbia (BC) has actively sought to address this inequity by increasing the volume of forest harvesting tenures to FNs. The rationale is that rights to harvest will also enhance economic and then social outcomes, as well as address broader legal and political disputes. However, whether these rights can translate into the expected benefits has received little attention. This paper seeks to help address this knowledge gap by interviewing FNs experts and forestry professionals in BC to understand the long-term goals of FNs in forestry, to strategically evaluate how (and if) opportunities from forestry arise, and to identify institutional factors that influence successful participation in forestry. What we found is that forest tenure can promote economic outcomes, but it often comes at the expense of other intrinsic forest values. We conclude that a rights-based approach alone will not achieve the diverse outcomes related to forestry without effective governance by FNs to evaluate and capitalize on the opportunity in ways that are legitimate to the individual community's values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]