| Natural resource planning and management in British Columbia is increasingly a challenging task. Community, First Nation, and non-traditional resource user groups are now demanding a much greater role in decision making. Simultaneously, growing awareness of the interrelated nature of environmental problems highlights the need for a more integrated analytical perspective. In this context, the ability to cope with diverse values and high levels of uncertainty is an essential attribute of effective approaches to natural resource planning and management.;Traditional analysis techniques, procedures and institutions are hampered by an inability to address conflicting and multiple value judgments, a failure to acknowledge ignorance of social and ecological processes, and arrangements that do not promote critical discussion and learning among planners, managers, and stakeholders. New planning and management initiatives need to overcome these flaws.;This study provides an overview of the values and uncertainties affecting natural resource planning and management. Values are organized within a hierarchy of decision stakes; uncertainties within a hierarchy based on problem or issue complexity. A simple model based on the two attributes of decision stakes and management uncertainties is then proposed as a guide for judging the effectiveness of different approaches to planning and management.;The model is used to examine four planning and management initiatives recently undertaken in British Columbia. Brief analysis of the examples suggests that natural resource planning and management should involve citizens and stakeholders centrally and deliberately in defining problems, exposing uncertainties, collecting and evaluating information, and deciding upon acceptable strategies and plans. |
