Adaptive Management & CB at Federal Level

Question 1

What is the traditional approach to conservation management?

Answer 1

• It is linear, top-down, no formal feedback if management fails.
• Science -> Policy -> Management
• Trial and error

Question 2

What is the adaptive management approach to conservation management?

Answer 2

• iterative process of observing how policy works and updating to improve optimal management
• Science (Hypothesis, Experiment, Result *all of which feedback into each other) -> Policy -> Management -> Observation
• • cyclic feedback btwn policy and management
• • cyclic feedback between observation and management

Question 3

What is the standard definition of adaptive management?

Answer 3

• a systematic process for continually improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcome son operational programs (ie, past management decisions). Its most effective form - “active” adaptive management - employs management programs that are designed to experimentally compare selected policies or practices by evaluating alt hypotheses about the system being managed

Question 4

What are the four principles of adaptive management?

Answer 4

1. Learning; reducing key uncertainties
2. Management decisions as experiments (“single loops”)
3. Using what is learned to change policy and practice (“double loop”)
4. It is formal, structured, systematic

Question 5

Explain the learning principle of adaptive management.

Answer 5

• Acknowledging uncertainties and knowledge gaps about the response of the system to mangement actions. Reducing these uncertainties (ie learning) becomes one objective of management

Question 6

Explain the single loop principle of adaptive management.

Answer 6

• Thoughtfully applying management activities as experiments where results are then evaluated in order to improve management practices

Question 7

Explain the double loop principle of adaptive management.

Answer 7

• What is learned is used to improve decisions

Question 8

Explain how adaptive management is formal, structured and systematic.

Answer 8

• It is a deliberate process, not ad-hoc or reactionary. however, flexibility in the approach is important to allow the creativity that is crucial to dealing with uncertainty and change.

Question 9

Explain active vs passive adaptive management.

Answer 9

• Passive Adaptive Management
  L> Management goals / objectives -> management plan (usually best management practice) -> monitor and evaluate management outcome -> which then feeds into goals and objectives.
• Active Adaptive Management
  L> Management goals / objectives -> multiple management alternatives used -> monitor and evaluate management outcomes -> which the f needs back into goals and objectives.

** very rarely is active management used..it is usually just talked about in a theoretical framework way

Question 10

Should active management be used for critically imperilled species?

Answer 10

• No, you need to use more of a scenario based approach. Population would already be dwindling sp probably shouldn’t utilize treatment groups to compare approaches potentially negatively impacting populations further.

Question 11

Policy is a term that encompasses what?

Answer 11

• Acts (contain legislation)
• Regulations (contain legislation)
• Convention/ Treaty (UNB CBD). Can be bilateral or multilateral (governed by public international law)
• Agreement/ Accord (NAFTA, GL Water Quality Agreement, Pacific Salmon Agreement)
• Memorandum of Understanding
• Plan/ Strategy or Suggested Guidelines

Question 12

Policy encompasses various types of agreements. List these agreement forms in increasing legal consequences and time to develop order.

Answer 12

Plan/ Strategy/Sugg. Guidelines -> Memorandum of Understanding -> Agreement/Accord -> Convention / Treaty -> Acts

Question 13

When is an act very helpful vs suggested guidelines wrt likelihood of contravention and environmental consequences?

Answer 13

• if there is worry that organizations etc with high environmental consequences won’t comply easily

**Ex: Health Canada Guidelines for food nutrition vs Species at Risk Act

Question 14

What are the three regimes of Environmental Policy and Regulation in Canada?

Answer 14

1. Suggested Guidelines
2. Command and Control (CAC)
3. Incentive-based Policy / Market-based regulation
   * opportunity for conservation success increases from 1 to 3.

Question 15

Three regimes of Environmental Policy and Regulation in Canada:

• Explain Suggested Guidelines.

Answer 15

• Historically quite popular
• Large companies can make small adjustments to operations to reduce environmental impact, but smaller industry faced larger costs and didn’t comply

Question 16

Three regimes of Environmental Policy and Regulation in Canada:

• Explain Command and Control (CAC).

Answer 16

• Most common in Canada.
• Government sets a range of standards (i.e. critical habitat), companies and public must comply.
• In a democratic society, standards are set in consultation with science departments and stakeholders (public, industry), so standards typically reflect competition interests.
• Strong penalties
• Doesn’t foster innovative practices

Question 17

Three regimes of Environmental Policy and Regulation in Canada:

• Explain incentive-based policy / market-based regulation

Answer 17

• Use market, price etc to encourage companies to reduce economic externalities (ie costs that are not accounted for and are paid for elsewhere, such as pollution.
• Examples are taxes, tax breaks, credits/trading (e.g. carbon credits).
• Can promote innovative practices, it needs widespread buy in to have a significant effect.
• peak opp for cons success
  L> biodiversity offsetting (recreate the habitat lost due to building of whatever development to offset biodiversity loss)..aka mitigation activity, often restoring some ecosystem otherwise. Criticism in the literature.

Question 18

What are the 9 federal acts in Canada with conservation emphasis?

Answer 18

1. Fisheries Act, 1985
2. Great Lakes Fisheries Convention Act, 1985
3. Oceans Act, 1996
4. Migratory Bird Convention Act, 1994
5. Species at Risk Act, 2002
6. Canada National Parks Act, 2000
7. Canada Wildlife Act, 1985
8. Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012
9. Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999

Question 19

Why is interpretation of policy a considerable challenge?

Answer 19

• because the interpretation varies based on the relevant stakeholders…
• This is why courts are important for establishing principles for interpreting the powers of each level of government through litigation.

Question 20

What is the portfolio-effect?

Answer 20

• diversity stabilizes sp abundance in light of a disturbance

Question 21

What is the evenness-effect?

Answer 21

• evenness stabilizes, instead of having a largely dominant sp… more evenness lowers the loss across sp in light of a disturbance
• *this is less natural bc usually there are dominant sp

Question 22

Explain the importance of biodiversity for developing effective policy.

Answer 22

• often we think of evenness and diversity as good things but a lot of ecosystems are dom by a subset of sp. Definition of rare sp varies but susceptibility of extinction increases with rarity.
• We have to decide if sp that are on the more rare side are actually important for ecosystem functioning, do we need to focus our efforts on them. Varies depending on the context of each specific ecosystem.

Question 23

Costanza et al. 1997. The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital.
L> explain this study.

Answer 23

• synthesis of previous studies largely based on estimations of willingness to pay valuations.
• Fairly easy to justify for things that have a market value, but for non marketed ecological processes, much trickier.
• Becomes fuzzy when you think about interdependencies or synergies between different ecological functions…i.e. primary productivity is necessary for soil development which is necessary for insect and microbial diversity.
• A major critique of early ecosystem service valuation work was the rudimentary treatment of ecological systems at the scale of biomes and extrapolation of site specific values across the entire globe.
• At the other end of the spectrum, the utility of plot scale experiments for policy formation is questionable.
• Recognizing this trade off advanced research one ecosystem services has focused on spatially explicit economics and ecological models, moving away from standard lookup tables assuming constant marginal values and utilizing benefit transfer based on ecosystem type

Question 24

What are the three main objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD; June 5 1992)?

Answer 24

• signature at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
• objectives:
  1. Conservation of biological diversity
  2. sustainable use of the components of biological diversity
  3. the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources

Question 25

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD; June 5 1992):

-What is the precautionary principle?

Answer 25

• Where there is a threat of significant reduction or loss of biological diversity, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to avoid or minimize such a threat
• justifies discretionary decisions in situations:
• > when scientific investigation has found a plausible risk
• > when scientific knowledge on the mater is lacking, implying a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure or harm
• > Risk aversion

Question 26

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD; June 5 1992):

-Explain the outline of commitment of fiscal resources?

Answer 26

• basically each party undertakes to provide, in accordance with their capability, financial support and incentives in respect of those national activities which are intended to achieve the objectives of this convention, in accordance with its national plans, priorities and programmes

Question 27

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD; June 5 1992):

• Explain the outline of Fiscal resources for developing countries ?

Answer 27

• developed countries shall provide new and additional financial resources to enable developing countries to meet the agreed full incremental costs to them of implementing measures to fulfill obligations of the convention

Question 28

How is the UN SBD important for conservation in Canada?

Answer 28

• it provides strategic direction for existing departments, programs, guidelines, and legislation NOT because it re writes the way we protect biodiversity

Question 29

What tools/concepts were developed in CBD to guide national level plans and strategies?

Answer 29

• Guiding principles for the prevention, introduction, and mitigation of impacts of alien species that threaten ecosystems, habitats or species
• the ecosystem approach: management decentralization, consideration of spatial-temporal scale, abalone of preservation and sue of biodiversity *** basically know what is feeding into the ecosystem, interactions with different scales, boundaries of the ecosystem
• quantitative indices for biodiversity (ie cities biodiversity index)

Question 30

Describe the timeline of UN CBD and Canada’s Involvement.

Answer 30

A) 1992: Convention on Biological Diversity . Canda was the first industrial country to sign

B) 1995: Canda’s Response: Canadian Biodiversity Strategy

C) 2010: Aichi Biodveristy Targets. UN CBD Strategic Plan for 2011-2020 (a flexible framework of biodiversity goals and targets for 2020 based around the Aichi targets

D) 2012: Canada’s Response: 2020 Biodiversity Goals and Targets in Canada

Question 31

What are the goals of Canadian Biodiversity Strategy in established in 1995?

Answer 31

1. Conservation and Sustainable Use
2. Ecological management
3. Education and Awareness
4. Incentives and Legislation
5. International Cooperation

Question 32

Canadian Biodiversity Strategy:

• What falls under Goal 1: Conservation and Sustainable Use?

Answer 32

• Wild flora and fauna and other wild organisms
• protected areas
• *above two are covered by PC and DFO
• restoration and rehabilitation (COSEWICK, SARA 2002)
• sustainable use of biological resources
• biosafety : harmful alien organisms and living modified organisms (Invasive Species Strategy, Aquatic Invasive Species Strategy)
• atmosphere
• human population nd settlement

Question 33

Canadian Biodiversity Strategy:

• What falls under Goal 2: Ecological management ?

Answer 33

• Improving our ecological amazement capability (Research, inventory, ATK)
• increasing resource management capability
• monitoring (2010 Ecosystem status and trends report)

Question 34

What are the 5 strategic goals of the Aichi Targets?

Answer 34

A. Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society

B. Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use

C. To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity

D. Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services

E. Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building

Question 35

What was Canada’s response to the Aichi Targets?

Answer 35

• 2020 Biodiversity Goals and Targets for Canada
  L> strategic series of policy goals and targets to help Canada achieve ecological successes involved in the arch targets
  L> Themes and focus reveal current federal priorities

Question 36

List 3 targets from Canada’s response to the Aichi 2020 targets as part of the UN convention on Biological Diversity. List the indicators that are used to assess progress for the targets that you’ve chosen.

Answer 36

Target 3. By 2020, Canada’s wetlands are conserved or enhanced to sustain their ecosystem services through retention, restoration and management activities.
L> Indicators: habitat area retained, managed, and restored under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.

Target 11. By 2020, pathways of invasive alien species introductions are identified, and risk based intervention or management plans are in place for priority pathways and species.
L> Indicators: Number of known new invasive alien species in Canada by Federal Regulatory Status; Percent of federally regulated foreign invasive alien species not established in Canada; Number of intervention or management plans in place

Target 15. By 2020, Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge is respected, promoted and, where made available by Aboriginal peoples, regularly, meaningfully and effectively informing biodiversity conservation and management decision making.
L> Indicators: Number of mechanisms in place for ATK to inform decision making; Case studies assessing effectiveness of established mechanisms for ATK to inform decision making; Case studies illustrating best practices in promoting ATK or having it inform decision making; Trends in linguistic diversity and number of speakers of Aboriginal languages.

Question 37

Describe the indicators for Target 3 from Canada’s Response to the Aichi 2020 targets.

Answer 37

• The indicator for this target reports on the amount of Canadian wetland and associated upland habitat that has been retained, managed, and restored through the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) to support waterfowl and other wetland dependent species. These activities are measured within NAWMP’s four Habitat Joint Ventures: Pacific Coast (Canada portion only); Canadian Intermountain; Eastern Habitat; and Prairie Habitat, including the Western Boreal Forest region.

The Extent of Canada’s wetlands is a related indicator that is part of the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators program. The indicator is a measure of the extent of Canadian wetlands, and provides a baseline from which change can be measured.

Question 38

Describe the indicators for Target 11 from Canada’s Response to the Aichi 2020 targets.

Answer 38

The first two indicators for this target are part of the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) program, which provides data and information to track Canada’s performance on key environmental sustainability issues, and are reported as part of the Invasive alien species in Canada indicators.

The number of known new IAS includes all foreign IAS (whether regulated or not by the federal government) identified as having become established in Canada each year subsequent to the baseline date of January 2012, and identifies the type (regulated, non-regulated, unknown) and name of the pathway that brought them to Canada, if known.

The percentage of federally regulated foreign IAS not established in Canada reports the number of regulated foreign IAS not established in Canada as a percentage of the total number of regulated foreign IAS from the start of that year. This indicator represents the success of preventing the establishment of foreign regulated IAS in Canada.

The number of intervention or management plans indicator aims to capture specific, confirmed actions or measures to be taken (e.g. regulation, education, control/eradication measures) at the federal, provincial or territorial level. This could include plans developed in partnership with other levels of government or NGOs.

The information relevant for reporting on the first two indicators relies on contributions from existing data collection activities, knowledge and networks. The data is collected from departments/agencies involved with the regulation, identifying or researching IAS. Data for both indicators is included in one database and updated annually by each contributing department.

Question 39

Describe the indicators for Target 15 from Canada’s Response to the Aichi 2020 targets.

Answer 39

The first indicator proposed for this target would require federal, provincial and territorial governments to identify current mechanisms, in cooperation with Aboriginal organizations. All jurisdictions would need to report on existing governance structures that help ATK inform their biodiversity decision making framework. Case studies assessing effectiveness of established mechanisms would provide a qualitative complement to the first indicator. Case studies illustrating best practices in promoting ATK or having it inform decision-making will demonstrate successes and could serve as examples to others. Linguistic diversity and Aboriginal languages use are essential for the retention and use of ATK. Data on Aboriginal linguistic diversity and number of speakers is available through the Aboriginal Peoples Survey (Statistics Canada) and the Regional Health Surveys undertaken by Aboriginal organizations.

Question 40

What was some general feedback provided on the implementation of 2020 goals and targets

Answer 40

• Canadians need to be educated. Biodiversity should be mainstreamed across all levels of society.
• Implementation of goals and targets should consider synergies and linkages btwn similar processes underway at IUCN and CITES
• Restoration is important to many targets
• Future monitoring depends on data integration and consistency
• goals and targets are not achievable in the timeframe provided
• Current fiscal climate jeopardizes the achievability of these goals and targets due to poor funding
• Erosion of science + research at the federal level and funding of science outside of the government will hinder Canada’s ability to achieve these targets and goals

Question 41

How is the language in the 2020 Goals and Targets?

Answer 41

• unclear and open to interpretation
• needs clearer definitions
• needs measurable outcomes
• lacks specificity in a lot of them