introduction
The British Columbia Marine Conservation Analysis (BCMCA) is a collaborative project designed to provide resource managers, scientists, decision-makers, and those with a vested interest in the marine environment with resources to inform coast-wide integrated marine planning and management initiatives.
The overall purpose of the BCMCA project is to collaboratively identify marine areas of high conservation value and areas important to human use in Canada’s Pacific Ocean.
photo by Jen LeMercier
The BCMCA project entered a new phase as of the summer 2011 with the goal to ensure that the integrated marine management and marine spatial planning processes in British Columbia understand and have access to the expert-driven and peer-reviewed BCMCA products.
The three main objectives of this phase are to ensure British Columbia marine planning processes are aware of and have access to the BCMCA products, to provide new or revised data products and analysis work, and to strengthen collaborative relationships between BCMCA and the marine user community in British Columbia.
In May 2011, the BCMCA released its Marine Atlas of Pacific Canada, the first of two main products. All the individual atlas pages illustrating biophysical and human use features are freely available for view and download. The second main product, A Series of Marxan Scenarios for Pacific Canada, is under review prior to release. All BCMCA products are intended to help advance marine planning initiatives in BC.
Intact marine ecosystems are instrumental in maintaining the health and well-being of First Nations and coastal communities, and are an integral component of the BC economy. In recent years we have seen an increase in the number and types of users in the marine environment. This increase in activity has resulted in escalating human conflicts and decreasing vitality of marine ecosystems and coastal communities.
photo by Natalie Ban
It has become increasingly apparent that current management practices have difficulty integrating the complex interconnections in the marine environment and the cumulative impacts that humans have on these ecosystems. Consequently, a new approach in decision-making to manage human activity is required. New methods need to integrate biological, social, and economic knowledge, instead of studying these components separately. At the same time, they need to consider the rights and aspirations of First Nations, government policies and interests of stakeholders.
The collaborative BCMCA process and the resulting products are important new tools to help inform integrated decision-making. Once completed, analysis products will be widely available to encourage discussion and debate about ocean use and marine conservation throughout BC.
photo by Natalie Ban