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The Hakai Institute and the Marine Plan Partnership (MaPP - mappocean.org), are hosting an online workshop series beginning this Fall that highlights nearshore habitat monitoring programs in BC and beyond.
We invite Indigenous stewardship offices, management agencies, community groups, non-governmental organizations, scientists and practitioners to join this series of online presentations and discussions, which aims to:
- Share objectives, methodologies and lessons learned for monitoring coastal habitats
- Learn about new tools, technologies and training approaches for monitoring
- Network and build the community of practice for habitat-focused coastal monitoring in BC
- Compare data standards and best practices within BC, across Canada, and internationally
We’ll kick-start this workshop series with examples from programs in the Northern Shelf Bioregion. From there, other marine habitat-focused programs in BC, Canada and internationally will be showcased. Habitat-focused presentations will be interspersed with other topical presentations and discussions on data portals (accessing and visualizing data), data sharing and data standards.
Each monitoring-focused presentation will include a 45min overview of:
- Key monitoring program objectives
- Methods used for data collection, storage and management
- Applications of the data/lessons learned
Then, we’ll open the airwaves for a 30min discussion of methodological trouble-shooting and opportunities for networking, collaboration and coordinated data collection.
Coastal habitats profiled though this workshop will include, but not be limited to, kelp forests, seagrass meadows, marsh, and rocky/sandy shores. Presentations and discussions will also touch on the ecosystem services these habitats provide, including support for marine food webs, protection from storm damage, buffering oceans from human disturbance, and climate change mitigation.
Coastal seascapes, composed of many habitats, are particularly vulnerable to climate change, coastal development and pollution, and given their vulnerability and importance, monitoring change in nearshore ecosystems is a priority for many coastal communities and marine resource management organizations. In this light, and in this online era, this workshop aims to support and broaden the community of practice in habitat monitoring, with application to conservation, stewardship and management of these critical systems.
Workshops are scheduled for every other Thursday, 1:30-3:00 PM PST.
Please download this document on ZOOM Webinar Guidance for details on the technologies we will be utilizing and things we all can do to help us maximize the quality of our remote web series.
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