EMAN CO has developed easily accessible protocols for identifying and tracking ecosystem changes aiming for an indicator within each major environmental compartment:

• worms and organic matter decomposition for soil health;
• benthic diversity for water quality
• lichens for air quality
• tree crown condition and seedling regeneration for vegetation
• frog and salamander species richness for forests and wetlands;
• lake and rive ice formation / melting and plant flowering for climate

These, and others under development, continue to be successfully released and marketed across Canada through a partnership with the Canadian Nature Federation (CNF). They complement and take advantage of other EMAN standardization initiatives particularly those in data and metadata bases and in the coordinated reporting of ecosystem status and trend information. They are being further implemented by establishing linkages to provincial curricula, scouting badges, cottage-owners’ associations etc.

The far more difficult linkage to municipal governance and the management of complex landscapes was pursued through development and testing of a Canadian Community Monitoring Network with 18 month funding under the Federal Government’s Voluntary Sector Initiative.

Local monitoring information needs have to be grounded in a common local vision of goals for the community and identification of valued ecosystem functions and characteristics. This fact gives emphasis to capacity building within communities and to the design of ecological monitoring based on the identification and characterization of the information required by decision-makers. The initial step in monitoring design is the establishment of a community definition of sustainability based for example on the question "what would we not wish to compromise in the pursuit of local development. Items like swimable/fishable waters; healthy air, trees, wildlife and soils are the usual result and scientific indicators based on standardized protocols can be provided for tracking these attributes. Other aspects of interest including valued ecosystem components (VECs) or socio-economic indicators can be easily included according to the needs of the individual community.

Initial emphasis on a survey using the appropriate protocols helps to identify issues and foster a sense of ownership and place. If the survey shows that present conditions are a reference point, monitoring will indicate when sustainability as locally defined is going off track requiring verification, investigation of cause, research into mechanisms, development of options etc. This is diagrammed in an Adaptive Ecological Management Model below.

Characteristics of environmental information required for place-based decision-making include that it be:

• Targeted (relevant)
• Accessible and understandable
• Integrated
• Usable (form and context); and
• Timely

The most difficult characteristic from an institutionalized monitoring view is timeliness. Community based monitoring of indicative or valued components can deliver early locally relevant information to the community facilitating an adaptive responsive approach to the management of change.

Characteristics of the delivery are also critical. Results suggest it is best delivered so as to:

• Be understandable to the audience;
• Be relevant to problems and players;
• Suggest a course of action;
• Allow decision-makers to weigh consequences; and
• Make those involved feel that they are in control of the problem.

Fig. 1: Adaptive Ecological Management Model used for the Canadian Community Monitoring Network (modified from Cairns, McCormick and Nierderlehner, 1993.)