Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute
| Motto | It’s our nature to know |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Program |
| Formation | 1998 |
| Type | Collaborative monitoring |
| Greg Taylor Chair Stephen Lougheed Shawn Wasel Secretary/Treasurer Roger Gibbins | |
| Affiliations | Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures University of Alberta University of Calgary Royal Alberta Museum |
|
Budget (2012-2013)
|
$11 M |
|
Revenue (2013)
|
$9,513,809 |
| Mission | monitors and reports on biodiversity status in Alberta |
| Website | Official website, archived from the original on 2008-12-01 |
|
Formerly called
|
Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Program |
Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) is an agency that monitors and reports on biodiversity status throughout the province of Alberta, Canada, that is funded equally by the government of Alberta and the oil and gas industry. The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute is based in Edmonton, Alberta. According to Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures (AITF), a key partner in the ABMI, the ABMI, which acts as "an early warning system by monitoring the cumulative effects of biodiversity change in regions throughout Alberta" is "the largest project of its kind ever attempted in Canada." Collaborating agencies include the government-industry research agency Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures, the University of Alberta, University of Calgary and the Royal Alberta Museum. Along with the Alberta Forest Management Planning Standard, the ABMI are key components to implementing resource planning based on ecosystem management principles. Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) consults the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Agency's reports in monitoring and preservation of species, setting benchmarks for biodiversity for land use plans. If industry contributes to the endangerment of a species that falls below these benchmarks, the Government of Alberta can order remedial action.
The ABMI Science Centres are located at the University of Alberta, Alberta Innovates and the University of Calgary. Their Processing Centre is at the Royal Alberta Museum and their Information and Application Centre is at the University of Alberta. The ABMI Monitoring Centre is located at Alberta Innovates Technology Futures offices in Vegreville. Dan Farr has been Director at the Application Centre since April 2010.
Since the 1990s it was recognized that Alberta needed a comprehensive provincial biodiversity monitoring program but at that time the province did not have the capacity to conduct such a program.
Phase 1 (1998-2002) of what was then called Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Program (ABMP) was funded by $1 M cash from Alberta forest industries, oil and gas industries, the provincial government, and non-government organizations.
"A team of more that 20 scientists identified protocols to survey a broad diversity of biota, habitat structures, vegetation communities, and landscapes patterns within Alberta. These protocols have been reviewed by other scientists from across North America and have been amalgamated into an integrated design that will effectively and efficiently survey all elements. The ABMP is designed to monitor long-term, broad-scale changes in biodiversity, many of which are anticipated to be difficult to detect because they occur slowly over time. The ABMP will facilitate comparisons among geographic regions, and will feed information into an adaptive management process so that resource managers can evaluate long-term sustainability of biodiversity and natural resources. Information and analyses generated from the ABMP will be used to delineate potential causal relationships between development events and changes in biodiversity. Above all, the ABMP is designed to be scientifically credible, transparent, and to satisfy the needs of government, industry, and the public. This program will provide early warning of biodiversity change, and reduce the cost of sustaining biodiversity by reducing the need for expensive species recovery programs."
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Wikipedia