SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS

• What would a layperson need to know to have a sense of that tool?

• Growth management has to be sustainable in order to work. “Sustainable development refers to maintaining development over time.” Every aspect of urban growth needs planning while indicators are monitored. “The maintenance of essential ecological processes and Life-support systems such as soil, forests, agricultural systems, and coastal and freshwater systems. This means managing cropland, protecting watersheds and coastal fisheries and controlling the discharge of pollutants.” Next there is “the preservation of genetic diversity for breeding projects in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. This means preventing the extinction of species, preserving as many varieties as possible of crop and forage plants, timber trees, animals for aqua-culture, microbes and other domesticated organisms.”

Why Is it Important?

• The question of why it is important to monitor sustainability indicators is because from this, one can gage how the overall situation is? Normally if one can balance and make project “ecologically viable, socially desirable and economically feasible one has attained a sustainable solution” If we look at our problems from a narrow focus, we can be led to think that we must sacrifice either jobs or healthy ecosystems. Nothing could be further from the truth; they are interdependent. Thus, if we work within the limits of local ecosystems, but add diversity to our economies, we can produce many levels of value added activity. The end result will be greater prosperity for all but the few mega-corporations that have no interest in preserving local communities or ecosystems.”

• The expansionist worldview upon which modernism is based reduces all values to a common monetary measure-for example dollars. If all dollars are the only measure widely accepted for evaluating courses of action, then the demands of modern progress will be to use all resources to our maximum ability so as to generate the largest short-term gains. The creation of wealth in this way is often illusory, for it is based not only on increasing public and private debt but also increasing social and ecological debts. Even if we took all human interests into account, strove for economic and social justice, and considered the interests and needs of future generations, we would still not be able to resolve our current dilemmas without embracing a larger system of values, a broader more inclusive understanding of how we participate in local, regional and global ecosystems.”

What is the Relevance to sites or Issues we have discussed in this course?

• Nanaimo in its history has issues involving Mount Benson, forestry, farming, fishery, agriculture, mining and clean drinking water. South Wellington as our neighbor has mostly the same issues. “The main elements of sustainability are forest structures, climate (including micro-climate), soil, water and air quality, preservation of canopy dominants, maintenance of diversity, protection of ecotones, preservation of genetic base and reproductive habitat, and an overall respect for the great interconnected web of life that natural forest ecosystem communities represent. Our practices must be tailored to the requirements of specific forest ecosystems and forest stands within a landscape and watershed. Remember that human knowledge is very limited, and err on the side of caution.”

• South Wellington has more challenging issues with sustainability. These have mainly to do with population base which is declining, toxic neighbors and not being hooked up to city water and sewer. The car wrecking business for example had a fire which was visible from most of Nanaimo two summers ago. Also a vehicle is made up of plastics, metals, oils, leads, lubricants, glues, etc. Areas near the car wrecking will have concern from runoff. Also aesthetically the site is a mess. When a potential investor views South Wellington, there is no way to miss the car demolition or wrecking business. It is an eyesore in every way. Nest there is the mining business. Seeing that it is next to a river and the large smoke stacks, one immediately thinks of health and not being in the area. As a first step, South Wellington in order to be sustainable will have to address the issues of just what is or is not safe.

GOOGLE CAR-WRECKING BUSINESS

MINING IN SOUTH WELLINGTON

FARMING IN SOUTH WELLINGTON