Project Code:	FFI-16-017
Program:	FRIP
Sponsor:	Sundre Forest Products
Project Status:	Completed

Object & Deliverables

The concept of ecosystem-based management (EBM) was widely believed to be a way forward in resolving complex challenges in natural resource management when it was popularized in the 1990s. Despite the widespread potential of EBM in forest management, the implementation of EBM as a management approach in some jurisdictions is complicated by numerous societal and scientific challenges. More specifically, forest managers have regularly cited that specific forest values (e.g. economic interests) or species-level management (e.g. caribou recovery), often trump the use of EBM approaches to forest management.

To gain a deeper sense of the challenges in EBM implementation, we developed a dialogue process designed to capture diverse perspectives related to the understanding and implementation of EBM in Alberta.

 

 

Final Report

A key observation from these dialogue sessions was that conversations were focused less on the technical aspects of how EBM could/should be applied (e.g. harvest block size, retention amounts etc) and instead were focused on the importance of building strong relationships between stakeholders, as well as working through philosophical views on what exactly EBM is, or could be.

The Final Report: Understanding EBM Through Dialogue was submitted by a team led by David W. Andison , on March 1, 2019.

FFI-16-017