Institutional Arrangements for a System of Environmentally Significant Areas: The Case of the East Beaufort Sea Area, Canada

Abstract

A method is described of matching environmentally significant areas (ESAs) with the most appropriate form of management for each, selected from all the available forms. This involves comparing the purpose, reasons for significance, existing uses, and tenure, of each ESA, with the characteristics of agencies, protected area categories, legislation, and non-statutory arrangements for management, as well as examining agency coordination mechanisms or other means of implementation. The method was formulated for ESAs in the Northwest Territories (NWT) of Canada, but is considered to have wide applicability. It is illustrated with a test application to seven proposed ESAs in what is termed the eastern Beaufort Sea region.