- Monitoring the status and trends of habitats and species is critical to informing conservation decisions and allocating resources.
- The Coastal Assembly endorses the need for science-based monitoring for status and trends that can validate actions that will improve native species populations and provide for sustainable habitats for future growth.
Goals Linked to this Strategy
This strategy aligns with our goal to support a sustainable assemblage of native species, including priority species. Monitoring status and trends is critical to managing coastal wetlands to maximize the benefits for native species, and focus resources on areas where native species are most in need.
Goal 1 - Support a sustainable assemblage of native species, including priority species.
The ultimate outcome of this goal is the establishment of a resilient system of Great Lakes coastal wetlands supporting a sustainable assemblage of native fish, wildlife and plant species, including priority species at desired population levels.
Metrics for this strategy
Canada and the United States work together to implement the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. This collaboration produces the annual State of the Great Lakes report, which summarizes status and trends of nine major indicators of Great Lakes health.
Metric 1: Wetland Breeding Birds, as published in the State Of The Great Lakes reports
Metric 2: Wetland Breeding Amphibians, as published in the State of the Great Lakes reports.
Future metrics for species are under development
Related investments
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
Updated on: December 21 2020
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) is a multi-agency collaboration that provides funding to federal agencies that work to protect and restore the Great Lakes. Both United States and Canadian agencies have been the recipients of GLRI funding across a broad scope of projects.
The GLRI Action Plan III for fiscal years 2020-2024 focuses on five important categories:
State of the Great Lakes 2019 Highlights Report
Updated on: July 21 2020
The Governments of Canada and the United States are pleased to release the 2019 State of the Great Lakes Highlights Report, which provides an overview of the status and trends of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Overall, Great Lakes water quality is assessed as “fair and unchanging.” While progress to restore and protect the Great Lakes has occurred, including the reduction of toxic chemicals, challenges cited in the report include invasive species and excess nutrients that contribute to toxic and nuisance algae.
Issue
Geography
Topic