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Indicators of Sustainable Development Their Practical Application

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 Development Their Practical Application

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  1. Indicators of Sustainable DevelopmentTheir Practical Application

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. The Framework • Ecological Life-support systems • Human Health & Well-Being • Natural Resources Sustainability • Pervasive Influencing Factors

  5. Ecological Life-Support Systems • Stratospheric Ozone Depletion • Climate Change • Toxic Contaminants in the Environment: Persistent Organochlorines • Acid Rain

  6. Human Health and Well-Being • Urban Air Quality • Urban Water: Municipal water use and wastewater treatment

  7. Natural Resources Sustainability • Sustaining Canada’s Forests: • Timber Harvesting • Forest Biodiversity • Sustaining Marine Resources • Pacific Herring • Environmental Sustainability: Canada’s Agricultural Soils

  8. Pervasive Influencing Factors • Canadian Passenger Transportation • Energy Consumption

  9. 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

  10. Website • Http://www1.ec.gc.ca/~ind

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. How Indicators can help reduce the risk of damaging the natural resource base

  15. 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

  16. 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

  17. 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

  18. The Example of Indicators for Sustainable Tourism

  19. THE RISK: NOT KNOWING HOW MANY TOURISTS ARE TOO MANY

  20. First Question • What is it we wish to sustain?

  21. 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

  22. 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

  23. Good indicators are: • Understandable • Timely and accessible • Meaningful to real decisions • Reliable • Reveal important changes • Generally accepted

  24. 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

  25. 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

  26. Classes of Indicator • Core Indicators • Composite Indices • Ecosystem Specific Indicators

  27. Core Indicator (samples) • Stress • Tourist numbers visiting site (per annum/peak month) • Social Impact • Ratio of tourists to local residents (peak period)

  28. Composite Indices (sample) • Carrying Capacity • Composite early warning measure of key factors affecting the ability of the site to support different levels of tourism

  29. 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

  30. 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

  31. 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

  32. 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

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