vANCOUVER -- British Columbia has become a last refuge for a growing number of species in North America, but if the "biodiversity ark" is to be maintained in the face of global warming, government will have to change the way it manages the environment.
vANCOUVERÂ -- British Columbia has become a last refuge for a growing number of species in North America, but if the "biodiversity ark" is to be maintained in the face of global warming, government will have to change the way it manages the environment.
That's the conclusion reached by researchers at Simon Fraser University who have formed a group known as the Adaptation to Climate Change Team that is exploring the risks of global warming and proposing possible policy responses.
!ADVERTISEMENT!
In its first report, released this week, the group argues the B.C. government needs to shift to a model "that integrates ecosystem management with the resource-based economy," and brings land and water management under one umbrella organization.
The group's lead policy author, Jon O'Riordan, a former deputy minister of sustainable resource management in B.C., says the government has many environmental initiatives under way, but it is not moving fast enough and lacks overall co-ordination, putting the environment and the provincial economy at risk.
Article Continues:Â http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081205.BCCLIMATE05//TPStory/Environment
