Marine and coastal ecosystem services : Report on ecosystems services in the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (Pncima) on the British Columbia coast

Thanks also go to Bill Wareham, Sutton Eaves, and Jodi Stark of the David Suzuki Foundation, Colin Campbell of the Sierra Club of British Columbia, Kim Wright of the Living Oceans Society, Veronica Lo of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Hussein Alidina of World Wildlife Fund Canada, and Ed Gregr from UBC for report editing and reviews, Ian Hanington of the David Suzuki Foundation for cop [...] A Commitment to Further Research: Lack of knowledge with respect to ecosystem services is due both to the lack of relevant data and to the multivariate complexity of the concept. [...] The dangers of human-induced damage to oceans are beginning to enter public consciousness, as society is increasingly aware of the phenomenon of “dead zones”, the existence of invasive species, and the fact that that certain marine species have been exploited to the brink of extinction. [...] The following report follows the methodology of the MEA in that the value of ecosystems is assessed from a range of viewpoints (i.e., health, social, and economic). [...] The first objective provides the basis of the report by examining what subset of services exist in the marine environment along the Central and North Pacific coasts, and why they are important from both an ecological and a socio-economic perspective.