Acknowledgements

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency funded this project through the 2000/2001 Class Contribution Program to Support Research and Development in Environmental Assessment. The Canadian Wildlife Service and Environmental Assessment Branch of Environment Canada supported the project in-kind with technical guidance and advice.

The author wishes to acknowledge the contribution of the following individuals:

• Susan Mojgani, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, for guiding the project both substantively and administratively through new territory;
• Louise Kingsley, Canadian Wildlife Service, for in-depth discussions over many years on the challenge of practicing environmental assessment in Canada, and particularly for inspiring, encouraging and advising this work; and
• Keith Grady and John McCauley, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, and other anonymous expert reviewers, for thorough, detailed, and constructive comments that brought a broad range of experience to bear on the report.

Louise Kingsley (Canadian Wildlife Service) and Robert St. Louis (Environmental Assessment Branch) participated in the development and testing of the Ecological Benchmark Rating System.

It is my hope that the final report reflects well the substantial investment of these individuals and agencies; I accept sole responsibility for all shortcomings and inaccuracies.

This work builds on a recent project entitled Working with Wetlands: A Training Course on Considering Wetlands in Environmental Assessment Under CEAA (Environment Canada, Environmental Assessment Branch, and North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Canada), 2000), which introduced the concept of ecological standards for use in deciding whether adverse effects on wetlands are significant.