Effectiveness of Ecosystem-Based Management in protecting ecosystem integrity in the planning of a wind farm development on Aristazabal Island, British Columbia

Ecosystem Based Management provides a framework for land use planning that recognizes the science behind the structure, functioning, and distribution of ecosystems on multiple scales. In the case of a proposed wind farm at Aristazabal Island, GIS suitability mapping was used to assist in generating a preliminary project layout, and in measuring footprint impacts to ecological elements.;This conceptual layout was tested against a selection of disturbance targets based on EBM documentation. Of the 12 ecological targets identified, 10 were easily satisfied by the proposed layout, while the remaining two, impacts to rare ecosystems and their critical habitat, could be satisfied if the final design incorporated further field studies. The disturbance targets in the current EBM documentation neglect some impacts of a wind farm---most importantly impacts to airborne wildlife. If these impacts are explicitly addressed, then EBM could assist in the development of wind energy on the BC coast.