>>> Coast Forest Conservation Initiative - New approaches to forest conservation and management <<<

The Coast Information Team (CIT) was an independent, multidisciplinary group established and supported by the government of British Columbia, First Nations governments, the forest industry, environmental groups, communities, and, later, the federal government, as part of the implementation of the 2001 CCLCRMP (Central Coast Land and Coastal Resource Management Planning) Phase 1 Framework Agreement.

The CIT operated under a joint Memorandum of Understanding between these parties. The purpose of the CIT was to provide independent information and analyses for the development and implementation of ecosystem-based management in the north and central coastal region of British Columbia.

The CIT became operational in January 2002 and completed its work in March 2004. The CIT received funding from the provincial government (58%), environmental organizations (18%), forest products companies (18%), and the federal government (6%).

The CIT brought independent science, informed by local and traditional knowledge, to British Columbia's standard strategic land use planning model.

The CIT analyses and assessments provided a regional context for evaluating the ecological, cultural and economic importance of particular areas, and helped inform sub-regional, landscape and site level decision-making.

The CIT approach to Ecosystem-based Management developed by the CIT was designed to achieve ecosystem integrity and human wellbeing concurrently. The CIT provided clear principles, goals and objectives; ecological management targets; implementation tools (including an EBM planning handbook); and procedural steps to guide the implementation of EBM in the Great Bear Rainforest.

Cultural and economic spatial analyses were undertaken together with an ecosystem spatial analysis to identify priority areas for all value sets including cultural, economic development and biodiversity conservation.

The Ecosystem-Based Management Working Group (EMB WG) was a technical committee co-chaired by the province and First Nations involved in the Central and North Coast plan areas and comprised of members representing major resource value perspectives including communities and First Nations. The purpose of the EBM WG was to develop recommendations on research priorities and on the application of research results to the implementation of EBM. The EBM WG worked with Land and Resource Forums and the Central Coast and North Coast Plan Implementation and Monitoring Committees to implement EBM and the land use plan for the area. The EBM WG mandate extended from 2006 to 2009. With the fulfillment of the Coast Land Use Decision commitment to fully establish an EBM system for the area by March 31 2009 a new phase of government-to-government implementation of EBM on the Central and North Coast began.

Following the March 31 2009 announcement, a steering committee of First Nations, major stakeholders and Provincial Agencies was formed to oversee the Adaptive Management program for the Central and North Coast area.

Adaptive Management (AM) is a crucial element of EBM and has been defined by the government-to-government process as a: "systematic approach to resource management that engages the parties and stakeholders in structured collaborative research and monitoring with the goal of improving land and resource management policies, objectives and practices over time." Adaptive Management is a component of EBM and includes passive (operational) and active (science/research-based) approaches.