CCA Launches New Assessment on Integrated Natural Resource Management in Canada

The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) is pleased to announce the launch of a new assessment on integrated natural resource management in Canada. This assessment, referred by Natural Resources Canada, will address the following question: What is the state of knowledge and practice of integrated approaches to natural resource management in Canada? Integrated natural resource management refers to ways of managing natural resources that consider a comprehensive range of needs and uses and their sustainability over the long term.

“We are very pleased to receive this most recent assessment question,” said Eric M. Meslin, PhD, FCAHS, President and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies. “We look forward to producing a report that will provide policy and decision makers with the evidence necessary to make informed decisions on natural resource management.”

Canada is endowed with a diversity of resources. In some regions, energy, forestry, and mining activities, for example, may all occur simultaneously and in close proximity. While each of these activities may on its own have well-understood environmental, social, and economic impacts, when considered together, the impact can be complex and significant. Historically, resource management decisions were made on a project-by-project basis, but there is a growing interest in deploying more integrated approaches that consider the full set of activities occurring in an area to better support decision-making and the sustainable use of all resources.

In recent years integrated natural resource management has been gaining momentum in Canada. However, progress and barriers are difficult to assess and evaluate. This new assessment by the CCA will bring together a disparate knowledge base to shed new light on how both science and traditional knowledge can be best applied to enhance the management of natural resources in Canada.

Under the guidance of the CCA’s Scientific Advisory Committee, a multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral expert panel is being assembled. It is anticipated the final report will be released in early 2018.

To learn more about this, and the CCA’s other active assessments, visit Assessments in Progress.

-30-

About the Council of Canadian AcademiesThe Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that began operation in 2005. The CCA undertakes independent, authoritative, evidence-based expert assessments that inform public policy development in Canada. Assessments are conducted by independent, multidisciplinary panels of experts from across Canada and abroad. Panel members serve free of charge and many are Fellows of the CCA’s Member Academies. For more information about the CCA or its assessments, please visit www.scienceadvice.ca.For more information please contact:

Samantha Rae Ayoub Communications and Publishing Director Council of Canadian Academies 613.567.5000 x 256

samantha.rae@scienceadvice.ca