Lessons from practical application of an ecosystem approach in management of the Laurentian Great Lakes

The Canada–United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement calls for the use of a systematic and comprehensive ecosystem approach (i.e. accounting for interrelationships among water, air, land, and all living things, including humans, and involving all user groups in comprehensive management) in water resource planning, research, and management. This Agreement further calls for the public to be consulted in all management actions. Remedial action plans (RAP) are being developed and implemented to restore uses in degraded areas of the Great Lakes and lakewide management plans (LaMP) are being developed and implemented to restore uses in open lake waters. These planning processes represent practical application of ecosystem approach theory. Lessons from practical experiences with Great Lakes RAP and LaMP include: an ecosystem approach can result in eliminating overlap and increasing efficiency; there can be positive effects from opening up decision‐making processes through meaningful public participation; priority should be placed on reaching agreement on problems and priorities; identification of key actions and delineation of sequencing, timeframe, and responsibilities is essential to ensure accountability; there is a need for a step‐wise approach to use restoration and demonstration of incremental progress; emphasis should be placed on planning cooperatively and sharing responsibilities for programme delivery; governments should provide resources to factilitate multi‐stakeholder decision‐making processes; spatial and temporal scale issues must be addressed; management actions should be treated as experiments; coupling of research and management has proven time and again to be cost‐ and ecosystem‐effective; and emphasis should be placed on measuring and celebrating progress for continuous improvement.