Learning from BC Coastal Environment 2006 Part I: Consulting with Audiences and Experts Lynne Bonner Linda Gilkeson

Goal: Improve Our Reporting Province-wide reports to alternate with special reports With environmental indicators, provide information on solutions Work toward user needs driving monitoring & indicator development Involve partnerships to leverage resources, provide consistent information Meet policy maker’s reporting needs Provide information to suit different audiences

Accordingly…. The BC Coastal Environment project: Was the first of our special subject reports Included both federal and university partners Identified and consulted with audiences at outset Documented desired indicators before looking for data (knowledge gaps captured in separate report) Produced a variety of information products with different levels of detail

Partners & Contributors BC Ministry of Environment Fisheries and Oceans Canada University of BC Fisheries Centre University of Victoria, Geography Dept. Environment Canada Over 140 people from 30 agencies & organizations

Audiences for SOE Reporting Established audiences, high priority for consultation and input Governments (all levels) Stewardship, environmental groups Educators Target audiences, extension required Tourism, ecotourism operators Recreational boaters & fishers Professional associations ‘Green’ industries First Nations

Audience Consultation Regional meetings: provincial staff, representatives from external organizations Who are the important audiences? What issues should be addressed? E-mail survey: regional districts (8); coastal stewardship groups (7) What are you interested in? How do you use environmental information? What report formats are most useful to you?

Indicators Workshop ‘Experts’: What should people know about the condition of the coast and marine environment?” What are key pressures (impacts) on the coast and marine environment? ‘Audience’: What do you want to know about the condition of the coast and marine environment? What do you think are important pressures (impacts) on the coast and marine environment?

Content? General agreement: Loss and degradation of habitat Protection of marine areas Impacts of salmon aquaculture Status of commercial fisheries Toxics and pollutants in marine environment Climate change impacts ecosystems, sea level What individuals can do Most issues in 6 themes: Population & Economic Activity; Climate Change; Industrial Contaminants; Ecosystem Protection; Biodiversity; Fisheries

More Content Ideas Other areas audiences wanted covered: In-depth, background information Socio-economic costs, impacts Human health risks First Nations involvement Community sustainability Many ideas for ‘stories’ to supplement indicators Concerns to address in text

Format? Web information essential Hard copy products still very important ‘Well digested’ information for general public (brochures) Access to local data for communities, regional districts

Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Need time and resources to undertake a meaningful (long-term) involvement Find the right people or population work with Establish relationships Agree on methods, uses of results May be more meaningful at local scale than on province-wide scale of SOE reporting community driven processes, relationships joint problem-solving, monitoring, planning understanding environmental conditions, long term change

What Did We Learn? There were audiences and end-users interested in every level of information—from original data to high level summaries. Asking priority audiences what they wanted to know and what they needed enriched the report. Non-experts and scientists were generally concerned about the same issues, but provided different perspectives. A variety of reporting formats continues to serve the widest range of people.

www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/bcce/