Creating Safe Operating Spaces for Salmon

In our watersheds, everything is connected, from the bears, salmon and trees, to our communities, families and more. We are inherently part of these social-ecological systems, and the things we do can have big impact on the health and survival of not only everything here, but ultimately ourselves.

A recent study from SFU took a look at this interconnection and found that many salmon watersheds are approaching ecological limits as a result of combined impacts from anthropogenic climate change, as well as local human pressures.

Climate change amplifies the severity of things like drought, floods, wildfires, and ocean acidity, while localized impacts of things like logging, pollution, dams, development and habitat destruction makes ecosystems less resilient to the impacts of climate change. Cumulatively, these forces create pressures that can push ecosystems beyond recovery thresholds.

Change is the only constant in life, and we need to create resilient watersheds capable of adapting to those changes.

We need to recognize our interconnection to these social-ecological systems and create adaptive management strategies that include indigenous and local communities, account for these cumulative effects, and adapt policies as conditions change.

By defining ecological limits and managing watersheds within a safe operating space, governments, communities, and conservation groups together can improve ecological resilience to the changes coming our way, in order to sustain salmon populations and the social-ecological systems that rely on them, for a better, healthier future for us all.

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