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Indicators of Sustainable Development Their Practical Application. Today’s Presentation. What Canada is doing on indicators of sustainable development Where is this work leading? Practical applications: Sustainable Development Strategies the case of indicators for sustainable tourism.
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Indicators of Sustainable DevelopmentTheir Practical Application
Today’s Presentation • What Canada is doing on indicators of sustainable development • Where is this work leading? • Practical applications: • Sustainable Development Strategies • the case of indicators for sustainable tourism
What has Canada been doing? • Environmental indicators series development evolving since 1989 at Environment Canada • Indicators recognized as a tool to measure progress toward sustainable development • Currently, 11 key issues of national significance reported upon in the national indicators series in four categories
The Framework • Ecological Life-support systems • Human Health & Well-Being • Natural Resources Sustainability • Pervasive Influencing Factors
Ecological Life-Support Systems • Stratospheric Ozone Depletion • Climate Change • Toxic Contaminants in the Environment: Persistent Organochlorines • Acid Rain
Human Health and Well-Being • Urban Air Quality • Urban Water: Municipal water use and wastewater treatment
Natural Resources Sustainability • Sustaining Canada’s Forests: • Timber Harvesting • Forest Biodiversity • Sustaining Marine Resources • Pacific Herring • Environmental Sustainability: Canada’s Agricultural Soils
Pervasive Influencing Factors • Canadian Passenger Transportation • Energy Consumption
Sample:Urban Air Quality • Indicators: • number of days ground level ozone exceeds objective • levels of inhalable airborne particles in Canadian cities • toxic substances in Canadian urban air: Benzene
Website • Http://www1.ec.gc.ca/~ind
What will Canada be doing? • Currently embarking on a three year project to develop and pilot test a national set of SD indicators being led by NRTEE • Will draw upon input from variety of organizations and build upon environmental indicator series work
What will Canada be doing? (Cont) • Phase 1: Determine approach to measure progress toward SD - broad consultations key • Phase 2: Develop specific indicators • Phase 3: Test proposed indicators
What are Indicators - in practical terms? • indicators are signals of • upcoming situations or problems • current issues • need for action • results of our actions • certain data or information become indicators when their relevance becomes understood • “red sky at night…sailor’s delight” • health of canary in the coal mine • increased smoke from a volcano
How Indicators can help reduce the risk of damaging the natural resource base
Tactics for Risk Reduction • improve knowledge of likely risks • establish effective audit and monitoring systems • provide better information to those potentially affected • formalize accountability and reporting regimes
Federal Sustainable Development Strategies (SDS) • Addresses legal, economic, social and environmental risks • A legal requirement • Supports rigorous performance target setting • Derives from scan of SD issues relevant to each department • Supports preparation of environmental management systems • Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable Development
Barriers to Success of SDS Implementation • Senior management support • Lack of agreement over terminology (what IS ‘sustainable development’?) • Lack of ‘SMART’ targets • Lack of indicators implementation capacity
First Question • What is it we wish to sustain?
Why Indicators for Sustainable Tourism? • Tourism sector decision-makers need to know • the links between tourism and the environment • the effects of environmental factors on tourism • the impacts of the industry on the environment • The objective is to reduce future risks to the tourism industry and to destinations
Useful types of Indicators • early warning indicators • indicators of stresses on the system • measures of current state of industry • measures of industry impacts • measures of management effort • measures of management effect
Good indicators are: • Understandable • Timely and accessible • Meaningful to real decisions • Reliable • Reveal important changes • Generally accepted
Indicator Requirements at Different Levels • national level base indicators • indicators at level of specific locations • targeting of hot spots within larger locations • project level indicators
The Benefits of Good Indicators • better decision-making - lowering risk or cost • identification of emerging issues - allowing prevention • identification of impacts - allowing preventative action • support sustainable development - identifying limits and opportunities • allow for accountability - you cannot take responsibility without knowledge
Classes of Indicator • Core Indicators • Composite Indices • Ecosystem Specific Indicators
Core Indicator (samples) • Stress • Tourist numbers visiting site (per annum/peak month) • Social Impact • Ratio of tourists to local residents (peak period)
Composite Indices (sample) • Carrying Capacity • Composite early warning measure of key factors affecting the ability of the site to support different levels of tourism
Prince Edward Island, Canada • warm water, sandy beach • heavy swimming use in summer • national park protects shore zone • intensive development of park periphery zone for tourism • concern over uncontrolled development /habitat stress • key indicators: peak use levels, water supply, sewage disposal, habitat stress
Ecosystem Specific Indicators • Respond to specific risks found in typical tourism destinations of different types • Supplement the core indicators • Mountains/Traditional Communities/Cultural Sites/Unique Ecological Sites/Coastal Zones
Coastal Zones (Sample) Issue Ecological destruction Beach degradation Fish stocks depletion Indicators Amount degraded Levels of erosion Reduction in catch Measures % reduction in key species % of beach eroded Effort needed to catch fish
Conclusion • Indicators a tool to help identify and manage risks - ongoing commitment required for success • Indicators enable sectoral (e.g., tourism) integration with community and regional planning requirements • Many of the lessons from indicators for sustainable tourism can apply to indicators for sustainable development