Weaving our Tapestry - Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP) Strategic Plan: 2010-2015

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Table of Contents

Introduction

The Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP) is an ecosystemic and socio-economic environmental monitoring initiative that aims to support, facilitate and coordinate the collection, analysis, management and dissemination of information regarding the long-term state and health of the environment in Nunavut.

This initiative is an important piece of the Government of Canada’s Action Plan to Improve the Northern Regulatory Regimes, which works to ensure the regulatory system functions in a more timely and efficient manner, allowing for sustainable resource development balanced with environmental protection. It is also a key component of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, which requires the Government of Canada to work with its Nunavut partners to collect and analyse information relating to the ecosystemic and socio-economic health of the territory.

A similar but independent program also exists in the Northwest Territories, called the Northwest Territories Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program (CIMP).

A coordinated, effective and rigorous ecosystemic and socioeconomic environmental monitoring regime is critical for sustainable development in the Nunavut in order to:

The development of a robust environmental monitoring regime will provide significant benefits to Nunavut communities, industry, planners, government and decisionmakers; however, achieving it will require significant changes in how all of these parties prioritize monitoring and collaborate in the collection, analysis and dissemination of information.

This five-year Strategic Plan for the NGMP (2010/11 – 2014/15), entitled Weaving Our Tapestry, outlines the NGMPs’ mandate, vision, goals and milestones, performance management and governance. This strategic plan will serve as a prime management tool for the NGMP, and will provide a foundation for outreach and engagement with external partners, stakeholders and interested parties in the development of specific program elements, work plans and resources.

A compatible plan has also been developed for the CIMP.

Weaving our Tapestry presents a framework for ecosystemic and socio-economic monitoring in Nunavut. It is about bringing people together to collectively weave tapestries of credible monitoring information depicting the state and health of Nunavut’s ecosystemic and socio-economic environment. Over time, these tapestries will serve to tell the Nunavut story of development and support informed decision-making.

The NGMP welcomes interested parties and stakeholders to join it in its work.

For more information, please contact:

NGMP Secretariat

Nunavut Monitoring Mandate and Approach

NGMP Mandate

The Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP) collects, analyzes and reports information on the long-term conditions of Nunavut’s environment, people, communities and economy.

General monitoring is an integral requirement of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA). Article 12.7.6 of the NLCA indicates that:

There is a requirement for general monitoring to collect and analyze information on the long term state and heath of the ecosystemic and socio-economic environment in the Nunavut Settlement Area. Government, in co-operation with the Nunavut Planning Commission (NPC), shall be responsible for developing a general monitoring plan and for directing and coordinating general monitoring and data collection.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) is the lead federal department responsible for implementing the NGMP, as per this requirement. The NGMP is administered by the NGMP Secretariat, located within the AANDC Nunavut Regional Office, and is further supported by AANDC headquarters.

The work of the NGMP is guided by a steering committee comprised of AANDC, on behalf of the Government of Canada, along with the NPC, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., and the Government of Nunavut.

Nunavut State of Environmental Monitoring

Ecosystemic and socio-economic monitoring information is integral to supporting informed decision-making and, ultimately, sustainable development in Nunavut. This information is used to meet a continuum of land use planning, project, policy, and program-specific needs. There are three general types of environmental monitoring in Nunavut:

  1. Baseline Monitoring: Monitoring to determine the state of the environment at a particular point in time. This monitoring is used to establish background or "baseline" levels of select parameters (ecosystemic and/or socioeconomic in nature) against which environmental changes can be measured over time or natural variations can be determined.
  2. Effects Monitoring: Monitoring to determine changes to the status and trend of specific ecosystemic and/or socio-economic attributes or indicators (e.g., caribou populations, secondary school graduation rates). Effects monitoring may be project-based or cumulative, and focuses on changes to the environment resulting from human activities. Effects monitoring information is often conducted by government or industry proponents, and is informed by traditional knowledge holders.
  3. Compliance Monitoring: Monitoring to determine whether a facility/operation is in compliance with licensing and permitting conditions. Compliance monitoring is used to detect and correct violations and provide evidence to support enforcement actions. Regulations and conditions are informed by what is known about the environment from long-term and effects monitoring. This monitoring is generally prescribed by regulators and delivered by proponents. Compliance is confirmed through inspection by the appropriate enforcement authority.

There are significant opportunities to build collective monitoring capacity in Nunavut through meaningful and lasting partnerships, by working together to report information on the long-term state and health of the Nunavut’s ecosystemic and socio-economic environment. All three forms of monitoring in Nunavut would benefit from more effective collection, analysis and sharing of ecosystemic and socio-economic monitoring information.

NGMP Approach

The Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP) will serve to weave a tapestry of credible monitoring information that is illustrative of the overall state and health of Nunavut’s environment. The tapestry will be woven with threads from many partners, and the picture that emerges will change over time as more and more threads are interwoven. Sometimes the trends revealed in this picture will be desirable, at other times undesirable.

The value of the picture that emerges will hinge upon the credibility of available data at any point in time. Stable and meaningful indicators are therefore needed to measure changes to the long-term state and health of Nunavut’s environment. In support of this, the NGMP will provide a framework within which meaningful environmental monitoring can occur in Nunavut. Accordingly, this framework will be bound around that which is of environmental value to Nunavummiut; namely valued ecosystemic (VECs) and valued socio-economic components (VSECs) of Nunavut’s environment. This framework is included under Appendix A.

The information that the NGMP collects with its partners will contribute to an enhanced knowledge base and understanding of how Nunavut’s environment is changing. In doing so, NGMP will also play a significant part in telling the Nunavut story over time. Recognizing this role for general monitoring will also be central to Nunavut’s ongoing development. Accordingly, NGMP should be regarded as an integral tool to support sustainable development in Nunavut.

Monitoring information that is collected must be accurate, reliable and available in formats that are useful and culturally appropriate for the full range of users. Fundamentally, the NGMP will be an accessible and beneficial source of information for Inuit, and be intuitive and easy to use. It will provide decision-makers with the information they need for meaningful and pro-active participation in integrated resource management and development of Nunavut. Accordingly, the NGMP will be active in seeking participatory partnerships with its wide range of stakeholders through ongoing outreach and engagement.

Community-based monitoring and collaboration will form a solid premise for the credibility of NGMP. As the NGMP will be part of the decision-support system to inform sound decisions and policies, and to take effective action in realizing the Territory’s goals, the generation and validation of communitybased goals, priorities and desired state of Nunavut’s ecosystemic and socio-economic environment will be a necessary and ongoing participatory decision-making process. Over the long-run, general monitoring information will provide a basis for evaluating Nunavut’s progress in reaching the desired collective ecosystemic and socio-economic state of the environment envisioned by Nunavummiut.

As the threads come together, the tapestry will come to life. Over time, Nunavut will need to ensure the emergent images and patterns within it are reflective of the desired state and health of its ecosystemic and socio-economic environment. Ultimately, monitoring and evaluation of our collective progress towards these targets will ensure the tapestry is woven in concordance with the wishes and aspirations of Nunavut.

Vision, Activities and Goals

Vision

The Nunavut General Monitoring Plan’s (NGMP) long-term vision is to support sustainable development in Nunavut by monitoring and reporting on the long-term state and health of the ecosystemic and socio-economic environment in Nunavut. This vision is also complemented through supporting implementation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada’s (AANDC) strategic outcome: "Self-reliance, prosperity and well-being for the people and communities of the North."

The NGMP’s vision is based on a holistic view of the health and well-being of Nunavut’s environment, which includes both ecosystemic and socio-economic components. The NGMP contributes to two key outcomes that are central to informing development decisions that influence the health and wellbeing of Nunavut’s environment:

Activities

To achieve these outcomes, the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP) will be active in four main areas:

1. Facilitating governance and partnerships

The NGMP will take a creative, collaborative and coordinated approach to aligning monitoring activities in Nunavut. It will guide and support partnerships that involve collaboration among diverse partners to align, coordinate and integrate ecosystemic and socio-economic monitoring objectives and activities. This includes establishing governance and formalizing collaborative activities through negotiating agreements, such as Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), with key decision-makers and information providers.

The collection of information for the NGMP will be driven by a set of key questions and priorities within an overarching general monitoring valued component framework. The NGMP Steering Committee, with support from the NGMP Secretariat, will develop the framework and identify key questions in consultation with its constituencies, the Partner Advisory Group and Expert Advisory Teams. Through this process, monitoring priorities will be defined by key information users and providers, with monitoring being designed and delivered by experts and community-based organizations.

2. Supporting, facilitating and coordinating the collection, analysis and synthesis of information regarding the long-term state and health of the eco-systemic and socioeconomic environment in Nunavut

The NGMP will work with diverse information providers to establish baseline information and adopt shared monitoring protocols for collecting, managing, analyzing, sharing and reporting information. Nunavut general monitoring will have due regard for community, regional, territorial, national and international contexts, including both qualitative (e.g. Traditional Knowledge/Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit) and quantitative information.

The NGMP’s key questions and priorities will provide insight into which monitoring indicators and protocols will be best suited to measure the long-term state and health of the respective valued components. With refined and meaningful Nunavut general monitoring indicators, information will be collected from various organizations by the NGMP Secretariat. Where significant information gaps exist, select gap-filling, data development and/or capacity building investments will be considered. NGMP will provide this targeted funding through a periodic request for proposals (RFP) process.

3. Developing and maintaining an information management system

The NGMP will work to improve data compatibility, accessibility and analysis by developing and maintaining a centralized, online information management system (IMS). The IMS will consolidate monitoring information from disparate sources, facilitate access to data for analysis, and provide an ongoing inventory of who is monitoring which valued components and who has what monitoring information.

4. Reporting and communicating

The NGMP will disseminate information to decision-makers and the general public by developing and distributing reports and publications. This includes producing a comprehensive State of the Nunavut Environment report every five years, as well as annual Summary of Knowledge reports. These reports will address environmental changes and trends. The NGMP will also engage with decision-makers to ensure that monitoring information is available to inform decision-making.

Goals

The table below presents the NGMP’s five-year program goals by activity area. These were jointly developed with CIMP and reflect the high degree of collaboration between the two programs.

Key objectives and milestones for each goal are presented in the following section.

Table 1: Program Five Year Goals
Activity Area Five Year Goals
Facilitate governance and partnerships 1. Governance and management structures are established and functioning effectively.

2. Monitoring networks are formally established and functioning effectively.

3. Key monitoring information needs and priorities are identified and adopted.
Support the collection, analysis, management and synthesis of information 4. Environmental monitoring protocols have been developed and tested for all priority Valued Component areas.

5. Baseline information has been established for all priority Valued Component areas.

6. Funding is distributed to priority monitoring initiatives that build community capacity and fill key knowledge gaps.
Develop and maintain an information management system 7. Environmental monitoring information is centrally accessible online through an information management system.
Report and communicate 8. Key information on environmental monitoring is reported annually, and contributes to the quality and timeliness of management decisions.

Objectives and Milestones

GOAL 1: Governance and management structures are established and functioning effectively

Key Objectives:

Key Milestones:

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

GOAL 2: Monitoring networks are formally established and functioning effectively

Key Objectives:

Key Milestones:

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

GOAL 3: Key monitoring information needs and priorities are identified and adopted

Key Objectives:

Key Milestones:

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

GOAL 4: Environmental monitoring protocols have been developed and tested for all priority Valued Component areas

Key Objectives:

Key Milestones:

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

GOAL 5: Baseline information has been established for all priority Valued Component areas

Key Objectives:

Key Milestones:

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

GOAL 6: Funding is distributed to priority monitoring initiatives that build community capacity and fill key knowledge gaps

Key Objectives:

Key Milestones:

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

GOAL 7: Environmental monitoring information is centrally accessible online through a Northern Environmental Monitoring System (NEMS)

Key Objectives:

Key Milestones:

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

GOAL 8: Key information on environmental monitoring is reported annually and contributes to the quality and timeliness of management decisions

Key Objectives:

Key Milestones:

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Governance

The Nunavut General Monitoring Plan’s (NGMP) governance model and approach, presented in Figure 1 below, illustrates the NGMP’s role as a facilitator and coordinator of monitoring activities.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) is the lead federal department responsible for implementing the NGMP, which it does through its Nunavut Regional Office and with support from its Headquarters.

Key monitoring questions and priorities will be identified by the Steering Committee based on input from NGMP’s governance structure.

The NGMP will work with its network of monitoring experts and organizations to support the collection, analysis, management and reporting of ecosystemic and socioeconomic environmental monitoring information.

Monitoring information will be disseminated to stakeholders through the NGMP Secretariat, website and Information Management System.

Figure 1: The NGMP Governance Model and Approach

The Nunavut General Monitoring Plan Governance Model and Approach
Text Description for the chart: The Nunavut General Monitoring Plan Governance Model and Approach

At the centre of the NGMP governance model is the NGMP Secretariat, hosted by AANDC. The Secretariat has a series of functions:

  • To facilitate governance and partnerships,
  • To collect, analyze and synthesize information,
  • To develop and maintain an information management system, and
  • To report and communicate.

The Secretariat has a series of governance structures including the NGMP Steering Committee, the Constituency Committee, partner advisory groups, and an expert advisory group. The Secretariat works with these governance structures to determine monitoring questions and priorities.

The NGMP Secretariat also works with a variety of other monitoring experts and organizations including federal, territorial, and local governments, academia, industry, and communities. The Secretariat provides funding to these monitoring experts, and there is a two-way dialogue of expert advice, data, and information.

NGMP has a variety of stakeholders, including the institutions of public government, communities, decision-makers, policy-makers, regulators, industry, Northerners and Canadians, and researchers and academics. The NGMP Secretariat provides information, analysis, protocols, and reports for these stakeholders to use. The stakeholders may be part of the monitoring experts and organizations NGMP funds and with whom NGMP shares data and information. These stakeholders may also be involved in NGMP’s governance structures.


The key governance elements of NGMP are described in more detail below:

NGMP Steering Committee

The NGMP is governed by a Steering Committee, with representation from the Government of Canada (represented by the AANDC Nunavut Regional Office); Government of Nunavut (represented by Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs and the Department of Environment); the Nunavut Planning Commission; and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. The Steering Committee provides high-level oversight and direction for the NGMP and determines monitoring questions and priorities in collaboration with other stakeholders.

Constituency Committees

It is envisioned that each Steering Committee member will establish its own "constituency committee" from within the organizations he/she represents. These committees will, in turn, provide advice to the Steering Committee through the representative member. For example, AANDC will establish and lead a Federal Advisory Committee to coordinate the input of federal government departments into the NGMP Steering Committee.

Partner Advisory Groups

Partner Advisory Groups will be comprised of non-Steering Committee organizations, such as non-governmental organizations, research institutions, academia and industry. These partners will provide insight and advice regarding the needs and priorities of organizations and constituencies that are not directly represented on the Steering Committee.

NGMP Secretariat

The NGMP Secretariat is comprised of five staff members who support the Steering Committee, manage the governance and partnership structures, data collection and reporting functions, and ultimately implement the NGMP. The NGMP Secretariat will work closely with the Nunavut Planning Commission to support common operational interests in general monitoring.

Expert Advisory Groups

Expert Advisory Groups will be organized as needed based on the NGMP’s themes, valued components, indicators, monitoring questions and/or geographic focus areas. They will be comprised of subject matter experts and may include members from government departments, academia, industry, community members, or independent experts. Teams would include individuals possessing direct experience with or due regard for Traditional Knowledge/Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. These teams will include representatives from the diverse organizations who will be providing monitoring information to NGMP.

Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration

Development in Nunavut is governed by an integrated resource management regime established under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA). Responsibilities related to the integrated resource management system include:

Other development responsibilities/activities related to the NLCA include:

Together, these articles under the NLCA form the broad institutional basis in which ecosystemic and socio-economic development occurs in Nunavut. As multiple parties to the NLCA share co-management responsibilities for implementing various articles of the agreement, Nunavutwide monitoring, via the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP), must inform and support the implementation of NLCA responsibilities of government, the Institutions of Public Government (IPGs), Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the regional Inuit organizations. Co-management of development in Nunavut needs co-monitoring. To achieve this, collaboration will be a common and key thread in the success of general monitoring in Nunavut.

The NGMP will formalize collaborative monitoring and information-sharing relationships with key partners and organizations through Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) and other tools. Joint MOU will also be established with parties common to the NGMP and the Northwest Territories Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program where partners are common to both regions. As the NGMP will have limited funding to support these activities, partners are encouraged to align and optimize their monitoring activities to their existing organizational mandates, co-management responsibilities, and ultimately, to the broader environmental monitoring mandate of the NGMP as established in the NLCA.

Areas of partner collaboration will include, but not be limited to, those highlighted in the table below.

Table 2: Areas of Collaboration
Area of Collaboration NGMP Secretariat Role (AANDC) Role of Monitoring Collaborators
Governance Structures Establish and manage the governance and partnership structures. Coordinate and present Government of Canada positions on governance structures. Participate in meetings and planning cycles and provide input and advice on strategic plans and other documents.
Identification of monitoring questions and priorities Facilitate the identification of monitoring questions and priorities by hosting meetings and providing relevant information. Produce a Monitoring Blueprint that summarizes priorities and questions. Participate in activities (e.g. workshops, meetings) to help identify monitoring questions, priorities and knowledge and capacity gaps.
Monitoring protocols for data collection, analysis and reporting Foster production of compatible and meaningful approaches to monitoring, analyzing, information-sharing and reporting general monitoring information. Policy and technical staff participate in the identification, development, review and revision of monitoring protocols through online and in-person meetings. Commit to using the protocols in monitoring work (e.g., through internal policy and/or prescribing license conditions).
Coordination and implementation of monitoring activities Coordinate and guide the design and implementation of monitoring programs to meet identified priorities. Commit to aligning and coordinating monitoring priorities and activities with the shared priorities and questions of NGMP.
Capacity building Support the capacity development of partners in pursuit of supporting the NGMP’s mandate. Key parties to the NLCA will consistently champion the NGMP, and participate in ongoing capacity-building initiatives to ensure the successful operation of Nunavut general monitoring.
Quality and accessibility of information Design and maintain a centralized monitoring information management system that will link data sources and facilitate access to monitoring reporting. Commit to:

i) adhering to shared and common data quality standards and protocols;

ii) publishing information (data, reports, etc.) in an accessible and compatible format; and

iii) making information available through the NGMP information management system and reports.
Reports and publications Report monitoring information to decision-makers and community members through Annual Summary of Knowledge and Five-Year State of the Nunavut Environment Reports, as well as other documents (e.g. technical reports, newsletters). Contribute to the NGMP’s Annual Summary of Knowledge and Five-Year State of the Nunavut Environment Reports as subject matter experts, authors and/or technical reviewers. Contribute to and/or produce other relevant reports and documents.
Periodic Nunavut Request for Proposals Direct, manage and administer the periodic Request For Proposal process to fund monitoring activities that address key monitoring priorities and questions. Support administration of RFP process (e.g. review of proposals). Apply for funding in partnership with communities to undertake monitoring initiatives that will contribute to the NGMP’s objectives. Review monitoring project reports to ensure quality of data and methods.

Sustaining Nunavut Environmental Monitoring

The NGMP has a broad mandate for territory-wide ecosystemic and socio-economic environmental monitoring. This mandate encompasses a wide range of interwoven valued ecosystemic and socio-economic components. Many diverse groups have roles and responsibilities related to the management of the state and health of Nunavut’s valued components; as such, the NGMP focuses on opportunities to work t with its partners to achieve collective monitoring requirements and objectives under the NLCA.

Sustaining Nunavut environmental monitoring is paramount for meaningful and sustainable development in Nunavut. The following are key considerations for managing expectations and sustaining the success of the NGMP:

Appendix A: NGMP Valued Components

Table 1: List of NGMP Valued Ecosystemic Components (VECs)
Theme VEC Theme VEC
Freshwater Surface Water Quality
Sediment Quality
Water Quantity
Hydrology
Groundwater
Freshwater Ecosystem		 Freshwater Fish Fish Habitat
Fish Populations
Fish Harvest
Fish Health / Quality
Species at Risk
Freshwater Invertebrates Phytoplankton, Zooplankton and benthic invertebrates Snow and Ice Snow
Ground Ice and Permafrost
Sea Ice
Lake Ice
Marine Coastal and Offshore Environment Marine water quality
Marine sediment
Coastal processes and seabed
Bathymetry
Marine Ecosystem
Polynya		 Marine Fish Fish Habitat
Fish Populations
Fish Harvest
Fish Health / Quality
Species at Risk
Marine Invertebrates Harvest species – clams and mussels and shrimp
Other marine invertebrates		 Marine Mammals Seals (ringed, bearded, harp, harbour)
Whales (Number of species – beluga, bowhead etc.)
Walrus
Narwhal
Species at Risk
Avian Wildlife Number of species (harvest species, breeding birds, waterfowl, raptors, seabirds)

Breeding Birds
- Ptarmigan
- Shorebirds
- Passerines (Songbirds)

Waterfowl and Waterbirds
- Loons
- Swans, Geese and Ducks
- Sea Ducks

Raptors
Seabirds
Species at Risk		 Terrestrial Wildlife Caribou
Musk Ox
Wolverine
Polar Bear
Grizzly Bear
Wolves
Foxes
Rabbit/Hare
Small mammals (muskrat, Arctic ground squirrel)
Species at risk
Landforms and Soils Landforms
Soil
Terrestrial Ecosystem		 Geology Bedrock, surficial, geochemical, geophysical
Vegetation Vegetation
Species at Risk		 Insects /Invertebrates To be confirmed
Climate and Weather Weather/ Meteorology Air Quality Greenhouse Gas emissions
Other Air Quality Parameters
Noise Atmospheric Noise Levels
Marine Noise Levels		    
Table 2: List of NGMP Valued Socio-Economic Environmental Components (VSECs)r
Theme VEC Theme VEC
People Demographics
Health & Well-being
Food security
Education & Training
Housing
Crime
Energy Use
Other		 Economy Employment
Economic Activity
Cultural Practices Inuit Language
Traditional Activities & Skills
See also 'Traditional Use Areas, Table 3		    
Table 3: List of NGMP Valued List of Activities/Uses of Land and Water
Themes
Land Use Planning Resource Development Parks and Protected Areas
Tourism & Recreation Energy Production and Supply Military Activities
Land Ownership Municipal Infrastructure Contaminated Sites
Traditional Use Areas Transportation Infrastructure & Activity Research Facilities
Heritage and Archaeological Sites Communications Infrastructure Paleontological Sites
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