Ecosystem Services and Conservation Policy

Find collaborative research expertise

Biodiversity Centre

Research at UBC’s Biodiversity Centre integrates community ecology, environmental change, policy studies, and social-ecological interactions. Conservation policies protecting British Columbia’s flora and fauna are also supported by research into the value of indicator species, identification of critical habitat, and assessments of extinction risk and management plans, as they relate to the Species at Risk Act of Canada. The Centre also provides industry internships via the Biodiversity Research: Integrative Training and Education program.

Fisheries Economics Research Unit

The unit strives for interdisciplinary solutions to global, national, and local marine and freshwater management issues. We focus on economic and policy analysis and mobilize researchers, students, and practitioners to advance resource management for the benefit of current and future generations, while maintaining ‘healthy’ ecosystems. Partners include the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

Sea Around Us

Provides an integrated analysis of the impacts of fisheries on marine ecosystems, and devises policies that can mitigate and reverse harmful trends while ensuring the social and economic benefits of sustainable fisheries. The project does this through visualizations (at the scale of countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones, Large Marine Ecosystems and the High Seas, as well as global maps and summaries) and peer-reviewed research. The researchers emphasize catch time series starting in 1950, and related series —- catch value and catch by fishing gear or flag state), and fisheries-related information on every maritime country.

Environmental and Spatial Statistics

Researchers with UBC Statistics have been active in this area for many years—including consulting for the US EPA and various Canadian agencies. Ongoing research ranges from analysis of pollution data collected over a geographical area and time to studies involving global climate models.

Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability

IRES researchers are dedicated to serving the wider community through their membership on boards and councils of many national and international panels, including the US National Academy of Sciences, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Ministerial Advisory Panel on Sustainability for Public Works and Government Services Canada, Westcoast Environmental Law, and the David Suzuki Foundation. The unit has developed strong relations with local institutions and organizations, resulting in meaningful, practical, cross-cultural partnerships.

Centre for Indigenous Fisheries

The Centre for Indigenous Fisheries (CIF) is committed to research, teaching, and service that places community needs and interests at its heart. The Centre aims to support the management and protection of culturally significant fish and fisheries in ways that uphold and respect Indigenous rights, values, practices, and knowledge systems. CIF re-imagines traditional ‘lab’ dynamics to build a community of Indigenous scholars and allies that place the needs and interests of Indigenous Peoples at the heart of all it does. Its core commitment is to conduct collaborative, just science and engage in and restore healthy relations between fish, people and place.