Ecosystem-based management, or EBM, is a new spin on an old idea: If we take care of the ecosystem, it will take care of us. As simple as that sounds, it represents a fundamental shift in how we manage forested landscapes in Canada, who is involved, and even roles and responsibilities.
In the end, the shift to EBM is daunting. In this talk I share two ideas to help make the change towards EBM more tractable:
- break EBM down into 12 linked but separate elements, and
- offer a series of reasonable, progressive stages of commitment for each of the 12 EBM elements.
Thinking of EBM as a journey (rather than a destination) by breaking it down into elements and steps makes it easier to solve as a problem, and allows us to share knowledge, learn from others, form new partnerships.