The Northeast Region Standing Committee on Woodland Caribou (NERSC): an example of a co-operative management partnership
Abstract
This paper describes the history and current status of NERSC (Northeast Region Standing Committee on Woodland Caribou), a government/industry partnership established to address issues related to industrial development and the conservation of woodland caribou {Rangifer tarandus caribou) in northeastern Alberta. In mid 1991, NERSC was established with broad participation from the oil and gas and forestry industries and relevant government agencies. Its primary role has been as an advisory body to the government through the regional environmental resource management committee. Since its inception, it has become an open forum for the annual review of industrial operating guidelines based on adaptive management. NERSC has been highly successful at attracting financial support from various sponsors and co-ordinating appropriate research and monitoring programs. Key achievements include: 1) greatly enhanced understanding of problems, issues and positions among its diverse membership related to resource development and caribou management; 2) greatly enhanced delineation of important caribou habitats, and improved understanding of population status and limiting factors; 3) modified and more effective land use strategies; and 4) a recognized collaborative partnership.Authors retain copyright and grant Rangifer irrevocable and non-exclusive right of publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). This means, among other things, that anyone is free to copy and distribute the content, as long as they give proper credit to the author(s) and the journal. For further information, see Creative Commons website for human readable or lawyer readable versions.