December 21, 2020

Section 1 - Alberta NAWMP Partnership

Led by Science, Supporting Science

The Alberta NAWMP Partnership seeks to maintain healthy prairie, parkland and boreal landscapes that support sustainable bird populations and provide ecological and economic benefits to society. All our efforts are founded in solid scientific principles and research, which guide the development and implementation of programs to conserve wetlands, from direct conservation programming to focused extension and communication endeavors, and proactive efforts to support conservation policy and legislation.

Through its Science Fund, the Alberta NAWMP Partnership supports various science projects and allocates annual funds to projects that relate to annual priorities set by Alberta NAWMP Committees, including ecosystem services, conservation planning and human dimensions.
Read more about each of these priority areas below.

  • Ecosystem Services

    Ecosystem services (ES) are the benefits provided to humans through the transformations of resources (or environmental assets, including land, water, vegetation and atmosphere) into a flow of essential goods and services e.g. clean air, water, and food (Constanza et al. 1997). For Alberta NAWMP, this means supporting and advancing our knowledge and application of market and non-market values of wetland and grassland ecosystems, in the Prairie Parkland and Western Boreal regions.

  • Conservation Planning

    Effective conservation planning requires that we consider current, local impacts as well as broader geographic and temporal influences; in context of long-term landscape-scale planning to guide the prioritization of site-specific conservation action. For Alberta NAWMP, this means enhancing and applying our knowledge, or creating tools to assist our partners and stakeholders with wetland and waterfowl conservation, including native grasslands and upland habitats.

  • Human Dimensions

    Effective natural resources management requires understanding people: how individuals, groups and institutions respond to change and how their actions enable or constrain management. For Alberta NAWMP, this means supporting science-based initiatives and research that helps us better understand the people we work with, to advance wetland, waterfowl and grassland conservation across the Prairie Parkland, Western Boreal of Alberta and throughout the PHJV.