Presentation Abstract
Nothing generates conversations between landowners and local government like a map! Shoreline mapping is a crucial decision making tool for local governments and regulators. It provides information about appropriate location of shoreline infrastructure, such as docks, and informs landowners about the location of important natural transition areas between the land and the sea. Maps can also provide information that limits the activities of private landowners and as such can cause community conflict if they are inaccurate or unclear. Because mapping can be used to inform regulation, local governments often have different needs than scientists and NGOs, but there is no reason that mapping projects cannot accommodate multiple parties.
The Islands Trust and Islands Trust Fund considered accuracy, methodology and budget when mapping eelgrass and forage fish habitats for the island in the Salish Sea and elected to work in partnership with two non-profit agencies – SeaChange Marine Conservation Society and the BC Marine Conservation and Research Society – to complete habitat mapping. Each of the project partners had specific and overlapping mapping needs. Collaboration resulted in cost-savings for all organizations as well as a dataset that accommodated multiple needs. The dataset is now one of the most requested data sets Islands Trust staff has seen in recent years. The mapping has been shared with other government agencies, NGOs and private industry and is being used to record habitat locations, plan and regulate shoreline uses, inform marine conservation areas and respond to emergencies.
This Salish Sea Snapshot presentation will discuss the needs of local governments when mapping habitat, the advantages and challenges of collaboration with non-profits to complete mapping and ways to meet the needs of local governments, non-profit agencies and scientists to create a useful product.
Session Title
Mapping and Data
Conference Track
Salish Sea Snapshots
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Snapshot
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Coastal zone management--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Evaluation; Marine biodiversity conservation--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Evaluation; Ecological mapping----Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Habitat surveys--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons
Mapping on the Edge: shoreline mapping for regulation and voluntary stewardship
2016SSEC
Nothing generates conversations between landowners and local government like a map! Shoreline mapping is a crucial decision making tool for local governments and regulators. It provides information about appropriate location of shoreline infrastructure, such as docks, and informs landowners about the location of important natural transition areas between the land and the sea. Maps can also provide information that limits the activities of private landowners and as such can cause community conflict if they are inaccurate or unclear. Because mapping can be used to inform regulation, local governments often have different needs than scientists and NGOs, but there is no reason that mapping projects cannot accommodate multiple parties.
The Islands Trust and Islands Trust Fund considered accuracy, methodology and budget when mapping eelgrass and forage fish habitats for the island in the Salish Sea and elected to work in partnership with two non-profit agencies – SeaChange Marine Conservation Society and the BC Marine Conservation and Research Society – to complete habitat mapping. Each of the project partners had specific and overlapping mapping needs. Collaboration resulted in cost-savings for all organizations as well as a dataset that accommodated multiple needs. The dataset is now one of the most requested data sets Islands Trust staff has seen in recent years. The mapping has been shared with other government agencies, NGOs and private industry and is being used to record habitat locations, plan and regulate shoreline uses, inform marine conservation areas and respond to emergencies.
This Salish Sea Snapshot presentation will discuss the needs of local governments when mapping habitat, the advantages and challenges of collaboration with non-profits to complete mapping and ways to meet the needs of local governments, non-profit agencies and scientists to create a useful product.
Comments
Presenter information:
Kate Emmings works as the Ecosystem Protection Specialist with the Islands Trust Fund, the Conservancy for over 650 islands in Canada’s Salish Sea. As a branch of the Islands Trust, the local government for the area, the Islands Trust Fund works closely with island governments to protect nature on the land and at the edge of the sea. Kate has lived among the islands in the Salish Sea for 23 years and lives on Galiano Island. For more information about the Islands Trust Fund visit www.islandstrustfund.bc.ca.