Streaming Media
Presentation Abstract
Island communities have frequently been portrayed as passive victims of the climate crisis, but are also often considered to be models for the development of social capital and community resilience. As such, small island communities - like those in the Salish Sea - present unique challenges and opportunities in terms of evaluating community preparedness and adaptation to the climate crisis. The ecological footprint concept has long been employed in urban centers throughout our region as a powerful tool for understanding land and resource use in the context of climate change, but until recently has not been applied to small island communities due to limitations in data availability and capacity. With help from the BCIT EcoCity Centre, the Global Footprint Network, and community partners, the Galiano Conservancy has developed an “Ecological Fingerprint” for Galiano Island, consisting of: an ecological footprint assessment, including territorial- and consumption-based emissions inventories; a biocapacity assessment, including land use and carbon sequestration mapping; and a fingerprint assessment, consisting of artwork, interviews, and oral histories of island residents. This Ecological Fingerprint will be used to guide community action, inform policy, provide metrics against which progress towards sustainability can be measured, and contextualize the lived experiences of island residents. The methodology we have developed will be made available for surrounding small island communities to refer to and replicate. In this presentation, we will present the results of this project for the first time to the broader Salish Sea community, and discuss the utility of ecological footprinting (and “fingerprinting”) as a tool for climate resilience within and between small island communities.
Session Title
Communities and Ecosystems
Conference Track
SSE6: Human-Nature Systems
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2022 : Online)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE-traditionals-47
Start Date
27-4-2022 9:45 AM
End Date
27-4-2022 11:15 AM
Type of Presentation
Oral
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)
Climatic changes--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Sustainable development--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Human ecology--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Island life--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); San Juan Islands (Wash.)
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
One Island, One Earth: Exploring Island Ecological Footprints and Fingerprints
Island communities have frequently been portrayed as passive victims of the climate crisis, but are also often considered to be models for the development of social capital and community resilience. As such, small island communities - like those in the Salish Sea - present unique challenges and opportunities in terms of evaluating community preparedness and adaptation to the climate crisis. The ecological footprint concept has long been employed in urban centers throughout our region as a powerful tool for understanding land and resource use in the context of climate change, but until recently has not been applied to small island communities due to limitations in data availability and capacity. With help from the BCIT EcoCity Centre, the Global Footprint Network, and community partners, the Galiano Conservancy has developed an “Ecological Fingerprint” for Galiano Island, consisting of: an ecological footprint assessment, including territorial- and consumption-based emissions inventories; a biocapacity assessment, including land use and carbon sequestration mapping; and a fingerprint assessment, consisting of artwork, interviews, and oral histories of island residents. This Ecological Fingerprint will be used to guide community action, inform policy, provide metrics against which progress towards sustainability can be measured, and contextualize the lived experiences of island residents. The methodology we have developed will be made available for surrounding small island communities to refer to and replicate. In this presentation, we will present the results of this project for the first time to the broader Salish Sea community, and discuss the utility of ecological footprinting (and “fingerprinting”) as a tool for climate resilience within and between small island communities.
