1. Research on forestry and its transition to 4.0 highlights the complexity of forest spacial relationships through societal, economic, historical and technological interactions. Between climate change and the global trade of wood products, forests show alarming signs of loss of tree cover caused by fires, urbanization, forestry and shifting agriculture. Some nations are demonstrating that forestry, an economic driver for global exports, also paradoxically engenders the loss of forest cover.

2. At the territorial level, the analysis of forestry presents the composition of the Quebec forest and how it responds to disturbances. The territory is fragmenting under societal pressure from management units in order to gather an ever-increasing quantity of resources, and is being covered with roads that harm wildlife. In addition, government hypocrisy lies behind these protected areas, that mainly group what is north of the 49th parallel. Thus, a rather undiversified territory is protected leaving the true biodiversity of the province vulnerable.

3. On a regional scale, the focus is on the logging sectors spread across Abitibi-Témiscamingue. The forest area is controlled mostly by the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (MFFP), placing the Ministry and forestry companies in equal power and dismissing the population and the municipalities, the "real" owners of these natural habitats. In addition, the vast majority of jobs in the forestry industry are found in wood processing, a sector where there is a critical shortage of workers.

4. The historical development of the region shows increasing colonization linked to the development of forestry. A territorial sprawl took off at the turn of the 20th century with the establishment of many companies and transport networks that have remained more or less unchanged since. With the end of paper markets, we observe a demographic stagnation at the same time as a decreasing number of reserves. Indigenous rights to their own forests have hence been reduced.

5. Forestry is struggling to modernize itself and enter the 4.0 regime. In-situ data collections provide a better understanding of the territory, but the processes remain in a rudimentary stage. Added to this are efforts to automate harvesting and transportation to alleviate the pressures of a declining workforce. However, a promising future is on the horizon with increasing research and the development of wood-based products that could increase the added value of wood resources and thus redefine what forests represent for sustainable development.

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