WKSS Final Report 1996-2001 - Environment and Natural ...

TED BLONDIN
Chair’s Message
This final report signals a momentous occasion for our Study, and one which all those
who have contributed in so many ways can take great pride in. We can look back at a
legacy of success in virtually all areas of our work. We have produced a range of high
quality research on topics related to the regional effects of development. We have
brought traditional knowledge and science to bear on these critical research problems
which all the Partners have agreed are of greatest concern. As a Board we have
worked together to give strong, clear direction to this Study, and set a standard for
cooperation which would be difficult to surpass. We have taken steps to accomplish
each of our objectives, and done so in a way that brought support from our
communities and interest from around the world, and which persuaded skeptics that
this kind of Partnership could work – and work well.
The Partnership was strengthened in this final year when the Government of Nunavut
(GN) accepted the Board’s invitation to join and participate in the Study. GN is the
only new organization to join the Partnership over its five years and we welcome it
whole-heartedly.
It is valuable and satisfying to look back over the last five years, and more, and think
about the long way we have come and the many good things we have done together,
as partners. But we must also keep clearly in mind our vision of supporting the
achievement of sustainable development through better information for decisionmaking.
Collection of baseline information is only the first step in developing a
monitoring program for cumulative effects of development. There is a great deal more
work to do before we have the baseline information necessary for informed decisionmaking
in this region. More research is needed to complete the picture, and much
planning and development is needed before a cumulative effects monitoring system is
in place, information needs are defined and information gathering systems are in place.
The political situation in the Study area has changed since our work began in 1996.
The Study area is now shared between two territories, the NWT and Nunavut.
Monitoring agencies are in place for each of the two approved diamond mines and
discussion is taking place about some form of regional rationalization and
coordination of monitoring to avoid duplication amongst agencies, and to increase
efficiency. The Government of Canada has made a commitment to a regional
monitoring framework in the Slave Geological Province (SGP). A major initiative to
develop a cumulative effects assessment and management framework is also
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