Great Bear Rainforest Ecosystem-Based Management
Last updated on December 21, 2017A key recommendation from the Central Coast and North Coast land and resource management plan tables and subsequent government-to-government discussions between the province, First Nations and First Nations organizations was the adoption of a new approach to planning and resource management known as ecosystem-based management (EBM).
EBM is an adaptive approach to managing human activities that seeks to ensure the coexistence of health, fully functioning ecosystems and human communities.
The EBM working group (EBM WG) was established to oversee technical and scientific work and make recommendations related to the further development and implementation of EBM in the Central and North Coast.
The EBM WG's membership included representatives of major resource value perspectives, for example, development and conservation interests) and included communities and First Nations. The purpose of the EBM WG was to develop recommendations on EBM research priorities in the key areas of ecological integrity and human wellbeing and on the application of research results to the implementation of EBM as well as oversee research related to uncertainties or knowledge gaps in EBM implementation and coordinate and manage data.
The EBM WG operated from September 2006 through March 31, 2009.
Annual Reports
Annual Report 2006/2007
Annual Report 2007/2008
Annual Report 2008/2009
Process Documents
EBMWG Terms of Reference
Workplan WG Terms of Reference
Data Group Terms of Reference
EBM Working Group Project List
| Program Area / Element | Project No. | Project Description | Additional Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK (AMF) | |||
| Framework Development | AM01 | Land Use Planning Summary Summarize the goals, objectives, indicators, and targets in relevant land-use planning documents and decisions. This is a key prerequisite to the Adaptive Management (AM) framework but will have multiple uses. | |
| AM02(a) | AM Framework design. Workshops with experts and implementation partners to develop AM design. |
am02a partner_workshop am02(a)_expert_workshop |
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| AM02(b) | AM Framework development. Undertaking Peer Review. |
am02(b)_overview |
|
| Framework Implementation | AM03(a) | Undertake Human Wellbeing (HWB) case studies to demonstrate how the AM Framework can be applied in a HWB context. Pilots with coastal FNs and Bella Coola. |
am03(a)_Heiltsuk_report_card_progress |
| AM03(b) | |||
| AM03(c) | am03(b)_Bella_Coola_community_forest am03(b)_closeout_report |
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| am03(c)_Kitasoo_tourism am03(c)_closeout_report |
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| AM04(a) | Set up experimental watersheds in keeping with AM Framework. | am04(a)_experimental_watersheds am04(a)_closeout_report |
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| AM04(b) | Undertake pilot AM planning to demonstrate and develop practitioner guidance component of AM Framework. | am04(b)_BCTS_issues_recommendations am04b_BCTS_windthrow am04(b)_closeout_report |
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| HUMAN WELLBEING (HW) | |||
| Indicators, baseline and targets | HW01 | Define Socio-economic Indicators for Schedule C/G. Consultant review of C and G indicators and recommendations for modification to more comprehensively monitor HWB. | |
| HW02 | Establish HWB baseline. Consulting team develops HWB baseline using indicators drawn from schedules C and G and HW01. Team also recommends approach to target setting. |
hw02_final_report |
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| Strategies | HW03(a) | Inventory regional/local HWB initiatives. Consulting team interviews range of economic development actors on the coast to identify existing economic development strategies aimed at improving HWB to identify barriers, gaps and policy issues. |
hw03(a)_final_report |
| HW03(b) | Identify benefit-sharing models and undertake background work in support of regional initiatives to deliver HWB outcomes. Addresses some of the barriers identified in HW03(a). |
hw03(b)_final_report |
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| HW03(c) | Background work on renewable energy to support a potential regional energy initiative. | hw03(c)_final_report hw03(c)_closeout_report |
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| HW03(d) | Background work on Transportation to support a potential regional transportation initiative. | hw03d_final_report | |
| ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY (EI) | |||
| OG Thresholds | EI01(a) | Refine Old Growth Indicators. Hold scientific workshop to address old growth indicators and thresholds. |
ei01(a)_final_report |
| EI01(b) | Develop background papers and recommendations and hold scientific workshop to provide advice regarding specific old growth management issues including: accounting for old growth in managed stands, the definition of old growth and restoration, deciduous targets, and use of TEM vs. SSS. |
ei01(b)_deciduous_ecosystems |
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| Focal Species | Focal/Fine Filter Species habitat mapping. Work with MoE to develop improved focal species habitat inventories. |
ei02(a)_deer_winter_habitat_report
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| EI02(c) | Focal species risk assessment. Retain focal species experts to provide analysis of the implications of various scenarios (from DS04) at subregional and forest management unit scales on focal/fine filter species habitat supply and to identify limitations of data used in scenarios. |
ei02(c)_workshop_summary ei02(c)_1_colocation_assessment_outcomes |
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| Baseline | a. Establish Ecological baseline and b. Inventory of existing analysis and inventory for the central and north coast. |
ei03(a)_ecological_baseline_report |
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| Rare Ecosystems | EI05 | Refine the criteria and determine, within the plan area, the red and blue-listed ecosystems and species of concern. Considerations include: the scale at which you determine rarity - locally common/globally rare and vice versa. | |
| EI06 | Review and refine Site Series Surrogates for central and north coast | ||
| DECISION SUPPORT (DS) | |||
| Data warehouse | DS01 | Develop tools and capacity to enhance data access and management, building on previous work related to data sharing and data management protocols. | |
| Planning Units | DS01(b) | Undertake workshop to develop a common database to support EBM implementation. | |
| DS02 | Hold a one-day workshop to develop recommendations on consistent approach to defining watershed and planning units. Should support the ability to do a "summing- up" across watersheds. | ||
| EBM Operational Costs/Benefits | DS03 | Develop reasoned estimates of the range of potential operational level costs/benefits, economic and ecological, of implementing EBM in the coastal forest sector. Application of initial land use objectives and more comprehensive objectives vis-à-vis the EBM Handbook will be assessed. |
ds03_1_ebm_pilot_documentation |
| Support and Integration | DS04 | Develop analytical tools and methodologies to support efficient location of reserves given multiple ecological and socio-economic objectives. Link to regional analysis of implications of landscape-level biodiversity protection. |
ds04(a)_interim_results |
| DS04(b) | Pilot test the approaches to demonstrate how well the outputs correspond with actual conditions. | ds04(b)_interim_results ds04(b)_landscape_reserve_design_concepts |
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| DS04(c) | Undertake integration workshop to bring together results of Co-location project and focal species projects | ||