Ecosystem+approach6

The **Ecosystem Approach** is considered one of the most important principles of sustainable [|environmental management]. The Fifth Conference of the Parties to the [|Convention on Biological Diversity] defined the Ecosystem Approach in Decision V/6, Annex A, section 1 as ‘a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way’ Essentially it requires the taking into consideration of the effects of actions on every element of an [|ecosystem], based on the recognition that all elements of an ecosystem are linked. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem_approach

__The Great Whale Project:__ In the case of the Great Whale project, looking at the effects that building the dam would play on the surrounding environment includes taking into consideration the whole ecosystem and recognizing the interconnectedness of that ecosystem. It is important to see that building a dam does more than just change the flow of a river, it affects all the animals and people that relied on the river before it was changed. The flooded land and technologically controlled flow patterns of the river would affect the migration of caribou, that the Cree people rely on for subsistence. It would even effect the areas where the river enters the oceans, disturbing Beluga populations and in turn effecting the Inuit people. There are many direct effects that would arise from the project, however there are many more indirect, and the extent of those effects can not be understood or predicted until it is too late.