Post on 30-Dec-2015
Issues and Opportunities in Environmental Evaluation in
Parks and Protected Areas
R.J. PayneLakehead University
Environmental Evaluators Network (Canada) ForumOttawa, Ontario
September 30 – October 1, 2010
Environmental Evaluation in Parks and Protected Areas
Introduction Natural Resource Management
and Evaluation
– People's impacts on natural environments
– Natural environments' impacts on people
– Management's impacts on both
Parks and Protected Areas Three Case Studies Sharing Practical Learning
Environmental Evaluation in Parks and Protected Areas
Case 1: Implementing the EI Panel's Recommendations
EI Panel Report (2000) on ecological integrity in national parks
Itself a detailed program evaluation
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (2005)
To what extent did Parks Canada implement the EI Panel's recommendations?
What do we Learn?
Ministerial Involvement
Independent review(s)
Accountability (of Parks Canada)
Science
Reporting
Scale
Environmental Evaluation in Parks and Protected Areas
Case 2: Impact and Benefit Agreements
From the mining sector
Part of the Nunavut settlement agreement
Parks Canada; e.g., Lancaster Sound NMCA
Post-agreement independent evaluation of IBAs for Auyuittuq, Quttinirpaaq and Sirmilik National Parks
What do we learn?
Impacts and benefits
Institutional arrangements
Accountability (of Parks Canada to Inuit people)
Co-operation
Methods
Environmental Evaluation in Parks and Protected Areas
Case 3: Measuring Visitor Experience Outcomes
Parks Canada's three goals: ecological integrity, education and visitor experience
Experience: social science staff; identification of experiences available
Are visitors satisfied with the experiences? How measured?
Visitor Information Program (e.g., Pukaskwa National Park)
A marketing “top box” approach
What do we Learn?
Conceptualization: “satisfaction” “experience”
Measurement
Segmentation
Scale
Environmental Evaluation in Parks and Protected Areas
Implications of the Case Studies
Accountability to ...
Independent assessment(s)
Conceptualization
Methodologies
Triangulation
Reporting
Scale
Environmental Evaluation in Parks and Protected Areas