1. Nik Lopoukhine and Jeffrey Parish
Ecological Integrity : what is it? How do we measure it? And why it is important!
Nik Lopoukhine and Jeffrey Parish
A beyond borders presentation

2. Presentation outline What compels us to measure, report and manage
What is it that we need to measure for purposes of biodiversity conservation
Review “Ecological integrity”
Concepts of goal setting
Objectives of seminar and how we will achieve these

3. Park Management Realities
Elk
Island NP
Edmonton, AB
A series of graphics to demonstrate (using Canadian examples) the interconnectedness of the world, continents landscapes, and the challenges of meeting protected areas ecological integrity objectives.

4. Islands in a greater landscape
FUNDY NP BORDER
Once one gets to the local level the realities of borders adds to the challenges

5. PAs - the Mine Canaries of land/seascapes
Protected Areas are embedded in their surrounding sea/landscapes – the greater ecosystem.
The state of a Protected Area is influenced by the condition of and thus the land/water use activities within that greater ecosystem.
Hence, the Protected Area is a barometer (the canary in the mine)of its greater ecosystem.
Hence,the value of measuring and reporting on the EI of a PA extends beyond park management interests.

6. Institutional drivers and Response
Biodiversity Convention (SBSTTA, COP 7)
Other conventions (WHS, Ramsar) and protocols
Legislation and policies
Donors (GEF) results and indicators of such
Response:
Setting Goals, Objectives - criteria and indicators
Measurement and reporting of management effectiveness

7. Biodiversity Convention
The BDC Article 8 clauses c, e, f challenge
(c) Regulate or manage biological resources important for the conservation of biological diversity whether within or outside protected areas, with a view to ensuring their conservation and sustainable use;
(e) Promote environmentally sound and sustainable development in areas adjacent to protected areas with a view to furthering protection of these areas;
(f) Rehabilitate and restore degraded ecosystems and promote the recovery of threatened species, inter alia, through the development and implementation of plans or other management strategies;
restore
The Biodiversity Convention provides for an international framework

8. Biodiversity conservation
Increasingly, Ecological Integrity is becoming the focus of PA management where biodiversity conservation is a goal
e.g. Canada’s national parks have the maintenance or restoration of ecological integrity as a first priority in meeting its obligations of assuring unimpaired parks under the dedication clause that speaks to assuring enjoyment, benefits and education of present and future Canadians.

9. Ecological principles to help us understand EI
Ecosystems are human constructs
Ecosystem based management or the Ecological Approach is also a societal choice or policy
Ecosystems are nevertheless describable or characterized because they do have organization, structure and definable trajectories over time

10. Clues to Understanding Ecosystems
There are clear patterns to how life works, but not all patterns are clear.
Ecosystems have interrelated structure, composition and function, at a range of scales.
Ecosystems are not stable or in balance, they are dynamic and changing. The constant is Change – and it is occurring at many scales.
System is greater than the sum of its parts
People are a part of the ecosystem

11. A web based sample of Ecological Integrity definitions

12. Ecological Integrity (Siry)
Ecological integrity is understood as a series of interdependent ways of thinking and describing the world we observe. Thus an imaginative faculty is used for conceptualizing the physical and biological conditions of existence. (Siry’s Ecology Home Page)

13. Ecological Integrity (EPA)
Ecological (or Biological) Integrity. The condition or "health" of an area, as defined by comparison of community structure and functions to those of unimpacted, least-impacted, or representative ("reference") areas.
(EPA, Bioindicators for Assessing Ecological Integrity of Prairie Wetlands Report # EPA/ 600/ R-96/ 082 September 1995)

14. Ecological Integrity (Maine Audubon)
Ecological Integrity is the ability of an ecosystem to support and maintain biological communities (assemblages of species) comparable to those found in unmanaged or relatively undisturbed habitats of the region. Ecological integrity includes both organisms as well as the physical elements of the ecosystem (soils, air, water, etc.) and ecological processes, such as forest succession and nutrient cycling within the forest.

15. Ecological integrity (Bradford and Maude)
Ecological integrity, which includes hydrological integrity, means the condition of ecosystems in which,
(a) the structure, composition and function of the ecosystems are unimpaired by stresses from human activity,
(b) natural ecological processes are intact and self sustaining, and
(c) the ecosystems evolve naturally.
Humans are a problem

16. Ecological Integrity (Westra)
In essence, it is an umbrella concept that includes the following components: the ecosystem must retain the ability to deal with outside interference and, if necessary, regenerate itself following upon it; the systems’ integrity reaches a peak when the optimum capacity for the greatest number of possible ongoing development options, within its time/location, is reached; and, lastly, it should retain the ability to continue its ongoing change and development, unconstrained by human interruptions, past or present. (Westra 1994).
Humans are an interruption

17. Ecological Integrity (from Kay and Regier)
Ecological integrity is about three facets of self-organization of ecological systems: (energy based)
a) current well being,
b) resiliency,
c) capacity to develop, regenerate and evolve.

18. Ecological Integrity Canada National Parks Act Definition
“ecological integrity” means, with respect to a park, a condition that is determined to be characteristic of its natural region and likely to persist, including abiotic components and the composition and abundance of native species and biological communities, rates of change and supporting processes.
The Canada National Parks Act, proclaimed in 2001, defines EI.
It is a goal statement that each park must refine into criteria, indicators, and targets.

19. Key Points:
Keep all working parts – abiotic elements as much as the need to keep native species at viable population levels
Manage at the right scale - managing for integrity must consider the larger ecosystems of which they are part, and long time horizons
Maintain good vital signs - Ecosystems with integrity do not exhibit the trends associated with stressed ecosystem .

20. Setting goals and objectives
Park management Plan
Setting goals and objectives

21. Goals, objectives and indicators
Goals are defined as a set of future conditions that are relatively more general and broad based
Objectives are concrete expressions of the broader goals
Indicators are well defined (preferably numerically specific) targets for the goals 7

22. Examples of Goals Maintain viable populations of all native species
Restore ecological processes, such as fire, that have been modified or eliminated from the ecosystem 8

23. management is to experiment as policy is to hypothesis policy
science
T. Nudds
Adaptive management
Ecosystem Approach is a policy – with science infusing knowledge to help in making decisions. Examples of Goals
Maintain viable populations of all native species
Restore ecological processes, such as fire, that have been modified or eliminated from the ecosystem
Objectives and indictors
Maintain viable population of grizzly bears in the greater park ecosystem
Indicator: Maintain a minimum of 50 breeding females, with a annual mortality of less than 2 %

24. Key Themes of today’s workshop
Importance of Ecological Integrity Measurement for Protected Area Management
Advances in tool development to facilitate measuring ecological outcomes
Challenges of limited data and resources
Experiences in measuring ecological integrity and using results for adaptive management.

25. Housekeeping Revised Agenda Materials Available
Change of Rooms in the Afternoon … to 4-2
Question and Answer Panel