Caledonia Hills

The farm is situated in the eastern hill region of Prince Edward Island.  It is one of the most forested parts on the Island that has at one point been 80% deforested.  Now, these rolling hills are mostly covered with upland eastern hardwoods, sometimes broken up by blueberry or pasture fields. When you stand with a clear view on one of those hills, you can see the Northumberland Staight in front of you and beyond, the coast of Nova Scotia. It is God's country.

Caledonia Hills is the result of multiple land acquisitions, first Rona Hill, Double Hill and Percy Hill.  These hills are amongst the highest spots on Prince Edward Island (which does not say much, given that the Island does not have very high elevations). Together they form a beautiful farm of woodland, farmland a three homesteads.

One of the houses is a vacation home, available for rent. For more information you can visit the Percy Hill Website.

The owner, Sebastian Manago believes in the forest as human habitat, that a society draws physical and spiritual strength from a healthy forest and that we will loose something essentially human with the destruction of it.

In view of wholesale forest destruction on Prince Edward Island, the landowner wishes to send a counter message that the forest is part of our habitat and that we are also part of the forest life. He sees forest certification as an important tool to achieve this goal: Certification sets a standard that cannot be eroded. It sets a common platform that others can follow and respect. This separates the message from the messenger from a political perspective. Certification will also connect Mr. Manago with other landowners on Prince Edward Island, creating a greater community of likeminded people in the Maritimes. This will help in ending the isolationism that the forest industry has practiced in the past. Certification is also a very importantly marketing tool that helps to differentiate the product on a market place that is commodity driven.

The long-term goal for the woodlands is to enable the natural forest to grow and enhance its asset base. Like many other properties on the Island a history of high-grading has left the challenge to make necessary forest encouragements (better term than enhancement) without incurring a financial loss. The basic philosophy is to help the Acadian Forest to restore itself, don’t loose too much money in doing so, and build a business together with partners that is based on products that originate in the forest. These products can be timber, non-timber or service (tourism) based. The landowner is already operating a Tourism establishment on one of the properties, making aesthetic and recreational values of higher importance.

As part of Sebastian Manago’s forest management approach he has decided to have these woodlands certified by the internationally recognised Forest Stewardship Council, through SmartWood’s resource manager program. The land will be certified under the Nagaya Forest Restoration Ltd resource manager certificate after complying with the membership requirements. In doing so the landowner is making a clear statement of the intent to follow all of the FSC principles and criteria, as well as the Certification Standards for Best Forestry Practices In The Maritime Forest Region.