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Key Message

The management of natural resources is on the frontline of the struggle for more sustainable and equitable development.

Team


Henry David Venema· Henry David Venema
Director - Sustainable Natural Resources Management
Alec Crawford· Alec Crawford
Project Officer
Anne Hammill· Anne Hammill
Project Manager
Brian Davy· Brian Davy
Senior Fellow
Bryan Oborne· Bryan Oborne
Associate
Charles Thrift· Charles Thrift
Research Assistant
Darren A. Swanson· Darren A. Swanson
Senior Project Manager
Dimple Roy· Dimple Roy
Project Officer
Keith Bezanson· Keith Bezanson
Senior Fellow
Matthew McCandless· Matthew McCandless
Project Officer
Ola Ullsten· Ola Ullsten
Senior Fellow
Richard Grosshans· Richard Grosshans
Project Officer
Robert McLeman· Robert McLeman
Associate
Stephan Barg· Stephan Barg
Associate
Stephen Tyler· Stephen Tyler
Associate
Tony Hodge· Tony Hodge
Associate
Vivek Voora· Vivek Voora
Project Officer

Natural Resources

Building resilient ecosystems

What's New in Natural Resources?

  • IISD has been working through much of 2007 to provide important background research in support of the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission's review of the hog production industry. This work was recently completed with IISD's submission of two reports to the CEC.

    In Phase 1 (PDF - 1.2 mb), the rationale and key elements of a "Total Nutrient Loading Framework" were developed and proposed as the most logical approach for addressing excess nutrient loads on a watershed-by-watershed basis, with the ultimate objective of reducing cumulative phosphorus loads entering Lake Winnipeg.

    Phase 2 (PDF - 1.6 mb) focused on a legislative and policy review of current decision-making processes related to the approval of proposed new hog developments. Numerous stakeholder organizations were also interviewed, towards the preparation of several conclusions and recommendations for consideration by the CEC.

The Sustainable Natural Resources Management (SNRM) program carries out policy research, provides advice and builds capacity for integrated, participatory and sustainable natural resources management. IISD's work in Sustainable Natural Resources Management recognizes that the litmus test of good policy—regardless of its origins (global, federal, provincial, municipal)—is if it promotes local resilience. IISD believes that adaptive management builds resilient ecosystems. "Adaptive management" views each management action as an opportunity to further learn how to adapt to changing circumstances—learning by judicious doing. IISD is committed to the research, dissemination and application of those policies, tools and techniques at all scales that build community-level resilience.

The SNRM program's current projects focus on Western Canadian water and agriculture. The Prairie Water Policy Symposium, held in 2005 in Winnipeg, convened 100 water experts to discuss IISD's research on cumulative stresses on prairie water and the capacity to manage adaptively. IISD is now pursuing policy research on the conjunction of Integrated Water Resources Management and Payments for Ecosystem Services in the Canadian Prairie context.

Application of the tools and methodologies being developed by the SNRM program extend well beyond the Canadian Prairies. SNRM's international work also emphasizes building community-scale resilience to environmental stressors such as climate change and natural hazards. The uniquely tragic events of the 2004 Asian tsunami spurred members of IISD's SNRM team to undertake Natural Disasters and Resource Rights: Building Resilience, Rebuilding Lives, a project funded by IISD's Innovation Fund. The project examined the role of resource rights (such as ownership of land, and access to sea and forest products) in community resilience to natural disasters and the effectiveness of post-disaster reconstruction.

IISD's work in the field of natural resources follows a tradition of non-partisan, multi-disciplinary research leading to practical policy advice, and cuts across the following areas.

Contents