Watershed restoration has in recent years received a great deal of attention from
policy makers and other stakeholders in British Columbia. Two hundred twenty seven
watershed restoration projects were approved for funding by Forest Renewal British
Columbia during the 1995-1996 fiscal year, with an approved budget of $22.2 million
dollars. Despite this attention, there is no clear agreement on what watershed restoration is or
how it should be evaluated. There is a pressing need for a watershed restoration evaluation
process to be developed and implemented at the program level.
The purpose of this research is to develop an evaluative framework for watershed
restoration initiatives generally, and apply it to the Squamish River Watershed Restoration
Project as a means of testing and improving the framework. In the process an evaluation of
the Squamish River Watershed Restoration Project is conducted.
The methods used to conduct this research included: (1) a comprehensive review of
project reports, proposals and other relevant literature, (2) the design and application of a
structured evaluative framework and (3) informational interviews with individuals
representing legitimate interests in the case study.
The evaluative framework appeared to be successful at measuring the performance of
the case study, and may have great potential as a program evaluation tool. Application of this
evaluative framework to other watershed restoration initiatives may help advance the goals of
ecological restoration and sustainable development through investment in natural capital. It is
recommended that future initiatives could benefit by:
• Utilizing an ecosystem approach to natural resource management, one that
emphasizes investment in natural capital, the establishment and maintenance
of self sustaining social and ecological systems.
• Utilizing a commonly recognized definition of ecological restoration, as
promoting: (1) ecologically and socially desirable ecosystem values; (2)
identifies functional and structural elements essential to self-sustaining
systems; (3) facilitation of ecosystem recovery.
• Applying the principles of decision analysis, and the use of the fundamental
objectives that have been developed as a part of this work throughout the
different phases of the project.
• Incorporating the principles and practice of Adaptive Management.
• Incorporating a collaborative approach to problem solving and, decision
making when appropriate. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/5923 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Tyler, John Dawes |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 7861531 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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