The Minas Basin Project Working Group
History and Purpose
Gulf of Maine Council - Habitat focus
The recognition of the need to protect coastal and marine habitats to maintain ecological
integrity and sustain the use of resources on a local and regional economic basis has
grown throughout the world. In 1991 the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment
(GOMC) began to develop a
systematic approach to identify, classify and protect significant habitats and species on
a regional basis.
In 1993/94 the GOMC Habitat Committee generated a list of priority species for the Gulf
region based on social, commercial, environmental, and
institutional criteria. While there was general agreement on the species list, further
work needed to be done in applying the list to the identification of significant habitats,
and the use of habitat/species information in developing habitat management and
restoration plans.
In 1996 - 1998, the GOMC, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Huntsman Marine Science
Centre cooperatively supported two pilot projects in Great Bay, New Hampshire, and
Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick, to identify significant species and their habitats and
to develop action plans for
habitat, maintenance, restoration and enhancement. These initiatives sought to fulfill an
Action Plan commitment of the Gulf of Maine Council to improve
the management of coastal habitats throughout the Gulf of Maine. Following completion in
1998, the GOMC asked that these projects be extended to other areas of the Gulf of
Maine/Bay of Fundy.
Minas Basin Project Group (Affiliated with the GOMC)
An initial Minas Basin workshop was held in the summer of 1998 in Wolfville, at
Acadia University, to gauge the level of interest in the GOM project in Nova Scotia.
Community organizations, the academic community and government agencies who attended the
workshop together chose the Minas Basin as the most appropriate site to continue the GOMC
work based on the value placed on the resource base, current conservation programs in the
area, and the level of local expertise in species and habitat management. Research
activity, the volume of existing information, and the availability of partners currently
engaged in sustainable management, were also determining factors.
A Steering Committee and Focus Group were established to guide the development of the
Minas Basin project. Project goals were to promote the
development of a more integrated systematic approach to management of the Bay of Fundy as
an ecosystem and to increase accessibility and utility of
resource data to decision-makers, researchers, and the public. The objective was to engage
stakeholders (government, non-government organizations,
universities, and private sector, and individuals) in a coordinated effort to identify
critical habitats and develop management plans. Tangible products and outcomes of this
project included:
-
a demonstration of the use of existing knowledge (community,
scientific) to identify significant habitats in the Minas Basin area;
-
publication of a series of resource (species/habitat) maps;
species/habitat profiles;
-
a report of important habitats identifying issues, gaps in
habitat/species information, management priorities and options, and issues
for future scientific investigation and research;
-
a model for public participation and involvement in coastal zone
management; and
-
an action plan for sustainable management of the Minas Basin as an ecosystem which would
subsequently be implemented over the long term through
cooperative initiatives in habitat conservation involving government agencies,
conservation groups and the scientific community.
Between 1998 and 2000, the Focus Group developed the project outline, study approach,
prepared a budget, identified potential partners and sources of
funding, formed partnerships, determined information and resource needs, identified
priority actions, and developed a project workplan and schedule.
The Group also prepared project proposals, submitted applications for funding, and gained
the approval of BOFEP and the GOMC for a document
describing the roles and relationships of the Minas Basin project group to the Gulf of
Maine Council. Applications to the Canada Millenium Fund and GOM Implementation Grants
program were unfortunately not successful.
Minas Basin Working Group (a Working Group of BOFEP)
In 2000, the Minas Basin Project group became a Working Group of the Bay of Fundy
Ecosystem Partnership and began to establish its own identity and to formally articulate
and expand its purpose, mission, and objectives.
The Working Group mission, similar to that of the GOMC, is to maintain and enhance
environmental quality in the Minas Basin and its watershed, and to allow for sustainable
resource use by existing and future generations. Its objectives, are:
- to engage the public in identifying issues and actions pertaining to the
sustainability of the Basin's resources and its coastal communities (i.e. encourage active
community participation in all aspects of the working group's activities);
- to facilitate partnerships, collaboration and new funding opportunities among
researchers, policy makers, resource managers and community groups pertaining to any
aspect of the sustainable use and management of the Minas Basin.
- to work towards a multistakeholder-supported, management plan for the Minas
Basin, taking into account its natural resources (living and non-living), the needs for
conservation and protection, and Canada's long-term commitment to sustainable development;
- to facilitate coordination of efforts to identify critical habitats and living
resources of the Minas Basin (i.e. encourage conservation of the Basin's biodiversity);
- to identify habitats and species issues for future scientific investigation and
research;
- to enhance access to and interpretation of information on Minas Basin and its
natural resources;
Membership on the Minas Basin Working Group remains open to all who agree with
the principles of BOFEP and have an interest in the sustainable
management of the Minas Basin.
The Minas
Basin Project: Defining Roles and Relationships
The Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership (BoFEP) and the Gulf of Maine
Council on the Marine Environment (GOMC) each have a common interest in the conservation,
and protection of the Bay of Fundy. The purpose of this document is to develop a working
relationship between these organizations with respect to the Minas Basin Project, an
initiative under the GOMC Action Plan.
The Minas Basin Project
Over the past two years the GOMC, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Huntsman Marine
Science Centre have cooperatively supported two pilot projects in Great Bay, New
Hampshire, and Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick, to identify habitats of significant
species. Recently the GOMC has asked that these projects be extended to other areas of the
Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy. The Minas Basin was chosen as the site to continue this work
in Nova Scotia.
In 1993/94 the GOMC Habitat Committee generated a list of priority species for the Gulf
region based on social, commercial, environmental, and institutional criteria. While there
was general agreement on the species list, further work needed to be done in applying the
list to the identification of significant habitats, and the use of habitat/species
information in developing habitat management and restoration plans.
The proposed work in the Minas Basin will develop a method to select
species of significance to the Minas Basin and use species/habitat profiles to prioritize
and map the habitats. Maps and habitat information would subsequently be used by
government agencies, conservation groups and the scientific community in habitat
protection.
The Role of the Gulf of Maine Council
An international agreement on the Conservation of the Marine Environment of the Gulf of
Maine, signed in 1989, among bordering states and provinces, recognized a shared duty to
protect and conserve the renewable and nonrenewable resources of the Gulf for future use.
Accordingly, provincial, state and federal agencies agreed to work cooperatively with the
region's non-governmental organizations, businesses and individuals to implement an action
plan and to report their progress to residents within the Gulf region.
The mission of the GOMC is very similar to that of BoFEP, albeit on a
broader scale. It is to maintain and enhance marine environmental quality in the Gulf of
Maine and to allow for sustainable resource use by existing and future generations. The
priority of the GOMC is to protect, restore and enhance terrestrial, coastal and marine
habitats in the Gulf of Maine. The GOMC recognizes that achieving this is dependent upon
partnerships and the development of good working relationships that can occur when public
and private organizations and individuals work together for a common purpose.
The GOMC Action Plan calls for the identification of "regionally
significant habitats" for management, protection, restoration and stewardship. The
designation of regionally significant habitats is based on their use by regionally
significant species. The goal of the GOMC is to ensure that coastal habitats throughout
the Gulf of Maine are healthy and support an appropriate abundance and range of plant and
animal species. The GOMC's strategy is to work in partnership with 2-3 coastal areas each
year to consolidate public and private information that identifies regionally significant
coastal habitats.
Dr. Graham Daborn, Director, Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research,
Acadia University, will chair the Minas Basin Project Steering Committee and Focus Group
which consist of representatives of provincial and federal agencies, non-government
organizations, and the academic community. Dr. Mike Brylinsky, Professor, Acadia Centre
for Estuarine Research, will serve as project coordinator. Nova Scotia Representatives to
the Working Group of the Gulf of Maine Council will provide the communications link
between the GOMC and Minas Basin project partners. Where funded by the GOMC, financial
matters would be managed through the Canadian Association of Delegates to the GOMC.
The Role of the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership
BoFEP is dedicated to fostering the well-being of the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem . It's
objective is to promote integrated ecological management and coastal management based on a
holistic understanding of the Bay of Fundy ecosystem and to facilitate co-operation among
individuals and groups seeking to ensure the sustainable development of Bay of Fundy
resources. To advance this objective, BoFEP formed a network ("virtual
institute") to link all partners and facilitate access to the scientific and
community knowledge pertaining to the Bay of Fundy.
It is proposed that BoFEP:
1) adopt the Minas Basin Project as an action project and provide a communications link to
community organizations and resource users represented by the BoFEP membership;
2) work with GOMC Working Group representatives, to:
* clearly define the role for the community in this project;
* provide names of stakeholders and NGO stakeholder organizations
within the Minas Basin area who should be invited to the Community workshop;
* distribute information /encourage public involvement on the Minas
Basin project by setting up a communication link through the BOFEP website or the Fundy
Forum discussion listserver, or newsletter notices/articles;
* distribute notices asking for community participation in workshops in
two locations on the Minas Basin . The purpose of these workshops is to verify provincial
and federal habitat and species map information, to develop a priority species list for
the Minas Basin area;
*
host the Minas Basin Project Community workshops;
* assist in development of management plans to sustain species and
their habitats; and
* assist in the development and evaluation of a model for public
communications and involvement in coastal zone management.
Mutual Benefits
The results of this project will assist BoFEP and GOMC to achieve their goals for
conservation, protection and restoration of the Bay of Fundy ecosystem, and enhancing
co-operation and partnerships among parties that share similar objectives.
The results of the Minas Basin project are expected to:
* produce maps of significant habitats /species and species profiles;
* identify management issues and long term trends;
* assess the health of the ecosystem;
* identify opportunities for stewardship and monitoring;
* provide an inventory of current knowledge and understanding of Bay of
Fundy ecosystem;
* identify issues for future investigation and research; and
* lead to the development of a more integrated systematic approach to management of
the Bay of Fundy as a whole, through cooperation of government agencies, the private
sector, and community based groups.
The involvement of community organizations, like BoFEP, in the Minas
Basin Project, will ensure that the project is developed into a broader proposal that
includes the community perspective. BoFEP participation will be recognized by placing the
BoFEP logo beside the logos of other partners on all documents/reports produced throughout
the course of this project. In addition, articles on the Minas Basin Project will be
published in the Gulf of Maine Times and progress reports will be presented to sponsoring
agencies, the GOMC and its Working Group membership acknowledging community involvement.
Next Steps
This document was distributed to the BoFEP Executive Committee for review during the
Committee meeting on January 6, 2000. The Executive Committee recommended on January 6,
2000 that any final changes be forwarded to Pat HInch to be incorporated into the document
by January 20, 2000 and that the final document be forwarded to the GOMC Management
Committee for review and consideration. Final changes were incorporated into the document
on January 20, 2000 and the document was forwarded to the Management Committee on February
22, 2000. The Secretariat distributed that document both to Management Committee and
Working Group members for comment to Laura Marron (GOM Secretariat) over a two week
period. Comments received were positive and supportive of the Minas Basin project. The
Working Group and Management Team approved the roles and responsibilities document and
Minas Basin project as written. Pat Hinch informed the BOFEP Executive Committee of this
decision.
Minas Basin Working Group
Report to 2008 AGM
The MBWG held 2 meetings thus far in 2008 and a third meeting is
planned for the fall (Nov/Dec). The following activities were undertaken:
- Members of the group have been very involved in the NS tidal power SEA
and the preparation of background papers and reports for the NS Department
of Energy.
- The Temporal Change in Species Diversity and Distribution in a
Megatidal Estuary (Minas Basin, Bay of Fundy) project involving Kingsport,
Avonport and Evangeline Beach - infauna samples
have been collected and processed. The project is
primarily funded by NaGISA's History
of the Near Shore program. Involves Honours student Claire Coulter and
MSc student Sylvia Dove.
- Pat Hinch completed an internship with the Department of Energy this
summer and is now completing her masters on the topic of cumulative
impacts of tidal power development in the Minas Basin.
- Jon Percy attended Nova Scotia Environmental Network workshop on tidal
energy and has received the final report.
- Jon Percy assisted Nature Nova Scotia in developing a policy statement
regarding tidal power developments and encouraged members of its
affiliated organisations to participate in the Tidal Power public forums.
- Anna attended the NS Energy and Research Development Forum 2008
forum. The topics included: geoscience and engineering, renewable energy,
the environment and alternate energy.
- Minas Basin Pulp and Power funded projects on lobster and striped bass
this summer. MSc student Jeremy Broome conducted the striped bass work.
- 2nd year sturgeon work (population assessment and
migration) was completed by MSc student
Sierra Wehrell this summer.
- Jeremy Broome conducted a study on striped bass movements this summer.
- Natasha Barker’s Severn Estuary and Minas Basin Project was posted on
the BoFEP Website.
- Establishment of a new
research Network: Fundy Marine Energy and Environmental Research Network
In addition, watching briefs continued on the following environmental
issues
- Windsor causeway
- Alton natural gas storage
- Windsor gypsum mine expansion
- Greencover project (Cornwallis River watershed)
- Uranium exploration in the Minas Basin watershed
- Inner BoF salmon
- Striped bass (status: Threatened species)
- Tidal Power environmental impacts
Members of the MBWG are also assisting with the Local Organising
Committee for the BoFEP workshop in May 2009.
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