| | You have to measure it to manage it.’ That adage applies as much to biodiversity as it does to our water, air and soil resources. So the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Program (ABMP) is taking on the task of tracking the province’s living resources. The program will provide high quality, science-based information to help government and industry ensure that our biodiversity resources are managed sustainably.
Many government agencies and companies in various industrial sectors require information on biodiversity to meet the requirements of regulations, policies and other commitments. Until now, each organization has taken its own approach to biodiversity monitoring. To find a better system, a partnership of over 30 government, industry and research agencies is supporting development of the ABMP.
The Alberta Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture (AESA) Council is one of those agencies. “The information from the ABMP can be used to support our efforts in the same way as the data from AESA’s own soil and water quality monitoring programs. With the ABMP data, AESA Council will be better able to provide advice to Alberta Agriculture, the Minister [and people in the agriculture industry] on how best to proceed on issues related to biodiversity,” says Karen Cannon, AESA program manager.
She adds, “Agriculture, like other human activities, relies on ecosystem functions such as purifying water and cycling nutrients. Species within an ecosystem are interdependent. If we lose a species, how does that affect the ecosystem’s functioning? People in agriculture are interested in helping to ensure that the species and habitat types here today will be around for future generations.”
The ABMP’s managing director Kirk Andries says, “The ABMP offers a standardized approach using scientifically rigorous protocols to monitor biodiversity at a regional or provincial scale. And the program is managed independently from both industry and government. So it provides objective, consistent, credible information, [while reducing duplication of effort and savings costs for users].” He adds, “It is a world-class program. There is not another program like it anywhere.”
The ABMP’s development started in 1997. First, leading scientists developed the monitoring protocols. Currently the prototype program is being tested. Operational start-up will begin in the spring of 2007.
The sampling system follows a province-wide grid with 1656 sampling sites. One-fifth of the sites will be monitored each year. “If you happen to have one of our points on your land and you’re comfortable with giving us access to that land, you would see us every fifth year. In that year, we would come onto that land five times. … When we visit a site, we are there for no more than a day. And when we leave, you wouldn’t know that we had been there,” Andries explains.
One of the ABMP’s upcoming priorities is to consult with producer groups and other agricultural associations to make sure the program being built will satisfy their requirements. “If people want to set up a meeting, we’d be delighted to go and talk with them,” says Andries. To arrange a meeting, call Andries at 780-417-3054. For more information about the ABMP, visit www.abmp.arc.ab.ca. |
|