Learning for Conserva tion and Revi talisation of Natural and Cultural Resources Stephen Monet Tina McCaffrey 22 1 RCE Greater Sudbury: Biodiversity Planning and Management RCE Greater Sudbury The City of Greater Sudbury is committed to enhancing the health and well-being of residents by accepting the honour of being designated as a Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) by the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies. As a result of accepting RCE status, Greater Sudbury is required to promote and empower the community to reach sustainable development through education. The City of Greater Sudbury has been active in developing and implementing healthy community strategies and initiatives since the 1970s. As a result, a strong network of committees, boards, and panels has been established, which continues to move the city forward in a healthier direction. Creating healthier communities and overcoming complex societal problems requires collaborative solutions that bring communities and institutions together as equal partners and builds upon assets, strengths and capacities of each. Greater Sudbury has pledged to advance the objectives of the local RCE by forging strong relationships with educational institutions and interested organisations to raise public awareness and understanding of sustainable development. The ultimate goal of the Greater Sudbury RCE is to encourage behaviour change among large numbers of individuals about sustainable development. The Greater Sudbury RCE faces many challenges, including aging and outdated infrastructure, family poverty, illiteracy, out-migration, homelessness, and, impaired ecosystems, the focus of this case study. Background Past forestry, mining and smelting activities have had profound impacts on the City of Greater Sudbury’s local environment both directly and indirectly. The virtual elimination of vegetation over tens of thousands of hectares has had direct impacts on the plant communities and the organism communities present in the soils that subsequently eroded. Dramatic losses of vegetation cover also resulted in the loss of habitat for the numerous animal species inhabiting the former forests. For decades, plant species richness was reduced to mainly those species that were either metal tolerant or that were able to persist on micro-sites shielded to varying degrees from sulphur dioxide fumigations emanating from local smelting facilities. Since 1978, the Regreening Program has limed more than 3,400 hectares of barren land, fertilised and seeded more than 3,100 hectares, planted more than 9.3 million trees, and created more than 4,500 temporary employment opportunities. Conifer seedlings have been planted on all of the barren land that received lime as well as on an additional 15,000 hectares of semi-barren land. Calculations using a geographic information system show, however, that 35,000 hectares of land within the original impacted zone have never been limed or planted with conifer seedlings. This does not include vast tracks of land that are considered ‘behind the mining company gates’ (i.e. areas for which mine closure plans exist), urban land, or various rights-of-way. While not all of the remaining 35,000 hectares of land requires lime, most likely need to be planted with conifer tree seedlings to at least supplement the tree seedlings that have naturally colonised some sites. In March of 2009, the Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) portion of the Sudbury Soils Study was released. One of the most comprehensive studies of its kind ever undertaken in North America, the ERA evaluated the ecological risks associated with seven chemicals of concern (COC s): arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, nickel, and selenium. While the COC s occur naturally in the area, their levels in the soil have increased over the years through particle deposition from smelter emissions. The ERA found that terrestrial plant communities in large areas of Greater Sudbury have been and continue to be impacted by the COC s in soil. The study also found that local plant The virtual elimination of vegetation over tens of thousands of hectares has had direct impacts on the plant communities and the organism communities present in the soils that subsequently eroded. Dramatic losses of vegetation cover also resulted in the loss of habitat for the numerous animal species inhabiting the former forests.
Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity
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