Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results

Government Strategic Goals		Ministry Mission The ministry provides leadership and support to British Columbians to help them limit the adverse effects of their individual and collective activities on the environment, while fostering economic development and providing recreational opportunities.
		Ministry Goals		Ministry Objectives		Performance Measures/Indicators
A strong and vibrant provincial economy. Safe, healthy communities and a sustainable environment. A supportive social fabric.		1. Protect the environment and human health and safety by ensuring clean and safe water, land and air.		1. Streamline standards and improve monitoring, reporting and compliance.		Contaminated sites backlog reduction. Average processing time for permits. Pesticide certification processing time.
				2. Limit air pollution and contribute to B.C.'s efforts to respond to climate change.		Percentage of communities achieving Canada-wide standard for particulate matter (PM2.5). Per capita greenhouse gas emissions relative to other provinces.
				3. Ensure safe, high-quality drinking water and reduce discharges that threaten water quality.		Water quality trends.
				4. Reduce/remove toxins and wastes that contaminate land.		Products with industry-led product stewardship.
				5. Effective response to high-risk environmental emergencies.		Response to environmental emergencies.
		2. Maintain and restore the ecological diversity of fish and wildlife species and their habitats.		1. Clear strategies and legislation to protect and restore species and their habitats.		Designations established under the Forest and Range Practices Act.
				2. Improved use of science for the development of standards and for effective monitoring and reporting.
						Number of collaborative management plans with First Nations.
				3. Increased number of partnerships to conserve species and their habitats.
		3. Provide and enhance park, fish and wildlife recreational services and opportunities for British Columbians and others.		1. High-quality park facilities, services and recreational opportunities.		Visitor satisfaction with park and campground facilities and services.
				2. High-quality hunting, angling and wildlife viewing opportunities.		Client satisfaction with fish and wildlife opportunities.
				3. Optimize the economic contribution of park, fish and wildlife recreation.		Number of hunting and angling licences sold. Number of recorded visits to B.C. parks.
		4. Provide effective and efficient planning and support for ministry programs.		1. Clear vision, leadership, direction and support for all ministry programs.		Regulatory reform targets.
				2. Efficient program management, fiscal responsibility and client service.		Percentage of staff with an Employee Performance and Development Plan (EPDP).

The diagram above displays the linkage between the government's strategic goals and the ministry's mission, goals, objectives and performance measures. This section presents the ministry's goals and outlines how specific objectives, strategies, performance measures and targets are helping to achieve them.¹

The ministry is continuing to protect water quality and ensure clean and safe water. The ministry is working on activities that protect surface water and ground water from health-threatening contamination by implementing appropriate ground water regulations.

Performance Measure:

Water quality trends: This is an outcome measure of surface water quality in 30 water bodies monitored under a federal/provincial agreement. The measure monitors trends based on the presence of environmentally significant variables, such as metals and nutrients. Tracking such trends will indicate the cumulative effect of multi-agency land use activities and resource management activities in source watersheds. This information helps inform how performance standards, authorizations and further monitoring activities are established for water bodies in the province.

To protect the environment and ensure clean and safe land, the ministry is developing a business strategy that enables producers to remove high-risk components from the waste stream and expand the number of products that can be recycled.

Performance Measure:

Industry-led product stewardship: To track its progress toward achieving this objective, the ministry is using a performance measure of the number of product categories with industry-led product stewardship. Many provincial and international jurisdictions are working to find ways to expand producer responsibility for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products. Since efforts tend to focus on reducing waste from product categories that pose relatively high risks to the environment (e.g., paint and used oil), this measure should be a reasonable indicator of success in attaining the objective. Performance targets are based on the lead time for industry-led product stewardship programs to be developed for additional product categories. In time, the ministry may move to an outcome-based measure such as product recovery rate.

Responding to environmental emergencies is an area in which the ministry is implementing its shift to focusing on high-risk issues. This objective pertains to all components of the goal, encompassing water, land and air. Key strategies include: responding effectively to high-risk environmental emergencies in conjunction with other ministries, local governments and industry, and expanding industry responsibility for response to and clean-up of spills.

Performance Measure:

Response to environmental emergencies: The ministry is using an outcome measure of the percentage of high-risk environmental emergencies responded to effectively to assess its progress toward achieving the objective. The measure focuses on responses to environmental spills. Effectiveness considers several issues, including identifying the spills that require attendance by ministry staff, timeliness of response, addressing the technical issues at the site, effecting proper response by parties responsible for the spill or by others when there is no responsible party, and ensuring appropriate clean-up. The ministry made considerable progress toward shifting the responsibility for low- and medium-risk spills to industry, local governments and other partners. The responsible party addressing a low- or medium-risk spill will report how impacts were mitigated to enable further monitoring and evaluation. The ministry is able to contract for the resources required to respond effectively to high-risk spills and bill the costs to the responsible parties.

Maintaining and restoring ecological diversity, fish and wildlife species and natural habitats provides environmental, social and economic benefits for all British Columbians. This goal focuses on the development of effective legislation and the improved use of science, and promotes a shared-stewardship approach involving First Nations, other government agencies, stakeholders and communities within British Columbia.

The ministry continues efforts to focus on environmental outcomes by providing clear direction and certainty for people who must comply with ministry regulations. To achieve this, the ministry develops standards informed by science and clearly identifies expectations and required results. Key strategies include: focusing on reducing regulatory requirements to implement results-based stewardship and providing clear guidelines and standards for appropriate protection and conservation of species and habitats on Crown land outside the protected area system.

Performance Measure:

Designations under the Forest and Range Practices Act: The ministry is piloting an output measure to demonstrate its progress in establishing designations and objectives for fisheries, wildlife and water quality under the authority of the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA). This measure will indicate the ministry's progress in setting results-based environmental standards informed by science under the FRPA, which will be critical to attaining the desired environmental outcomes. To adequately demonstrate progress, two types of data are being collected: (1) the number of designations and objectives established, and (2) the area of forest land base for which designations and objectives have been established. Initially, information is provided for designations of wildlife habitat areas (WHA) and ungulate winter ranges (UWR). Performance targets are based on expected levels of funding from the Forest Investment Account and are provided only for the number of designations because the size of the areas will depend on the species. Data and targets for other areas, such as significant community and fisheries watersheds, may be provided as data become available.

The application of the best available science is a key part of developing environmental standards and monitoring and reporting on their implementation and effectiveness. The ministry is focusing on a range of strategies that include: improving access to scientific information to inform and implement strategies and actions for addressing issues associated with biological diversity; tracking species and habitats and their responses to management actions; developing standards and an assessment process for the protection of fish habitat in urban areas; and working with partners to develop and implement environmental standards for the Forest and Range Practices Act.

In previous service plans, the ministry used the performance measure of the percentage of known native species that are threatened or endangered in the province regarding species at risk to track progress in achieving this objective. As reported in the ministry's 2003/04 Annual Service Plan Report, however, new data relating to this measure will not be available until 2006. Hence, the measure has been removed from the ministry's service plan.

Under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk (1997), provincial, territorial and federal wildlife agencies committed to an ongoing process for wild species assessment and monitoring. Tremendous progress has been made in recent years to compile information on wild species, but considerable challenges remain to expand, improve and update this information. A key role of ministry regional and headquarters staff in working toward the desired outcome of protecting species at risk is to put recovery planning processes in place in partnership with the federal government, First Nations, local governments, industry and other stakeholders.

As of November 2004, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has listed 170 species in British Columbia. The province is responsible for leading or co-leading the recovery planning processes for 127 of these species. Recovery planning is underway for all extirpated, endangered and threatened species for which the province has responsibility.

Partnerships will be a crucial mechanism in the ministry's shift from being sole protector of the environment to promoting a shared stewardship approach. Key strategies include: working to establish and maintain relationships with First Nations, communities, academia, environmental organizations and industry to undertake activities to conserve species and habitats, and providing standards, guidelines and best management practices to private landowners to develop and implement sustainable stewardship practices.

Performance Measure:

Number of partnerships: Initially, the ministry is monitoring its progress in forging partnerships by focusing on the specific area of establishing collaborative management plans with First Nations. This is an important type of partnership through which the ministry is providing a significant role to First Nations for making recommendations for protected area management.

Park, fish and wildlife recreation contribute significantly to the provincial economy. To help ensure that B.C.'s parks continue to showcase the natural beauty of the province and attract visitors, this goal focuses on the provision of high-quality outdoor recreational experiences and services to users of the provincial parks system and on the optimization of the economic contribution of outdoor recreation.

The ministry is working to provide high-quality client service in provincial parks. Key strategies include: implementing a new management model for provincial parks to increase visitation through day use and camping; supporting the implementation of the provincial resort strategy; initiating further opportunities for delivery of appropriate park recreational services through partnerships with commercial operators; and monitoring park operations to ensure service standards and facilities are maintained and conservation and habitat-restoration priorities are met.

Performance Measure:

Visitor satisfaction with park and campground facilities and services: The ministry provides campground facilities and services in provincial parks throughout the province. To assess client satisfaction, the ministry has conducted an annual satisfaction survey of visitors to campgrounds in the provincial parks system since 1985. This important outcome measure enables BC Parks to capture campers' views about the quality of services being provided in campgrounds and to identify priorities for service and facility improvements.

The ministry aims to provide high-quality outdoor recreational opportunities through a range of strategies that include: working with the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC to cooperatively manage stocking fish in lakes and streams and undertake conservation activities; implementing new initiatives to enhance and diversify fish and wildlife recreation; increasing the involvement of First Nations and other users in allocating natural resources for hunting, angling and wildlife viewing opportunities; and providing hunting and angling authorizations based on allowable harvest levels informed by science to ensure sustainability of the resources.

Performance Measure:

Client satisfaction with fish and wildlife opportunities: This outcome measure will assess the ministry's effectiveness in providing British Columbians and visitors with fish and wildlife opportunities (e.g., hunting, angling and wildlife viewing). The ministry intends to use a survey of hunters and anglers to acquire this data.

Economic contribution is an important factor that the ministry considers when determining the level and types of park, fish and wildlife recreational services and opportunities to provide.² To optimize the economic contribution of outdoor recreation, the ministry is promoting participation in recreational opportunities; working with First Nations, governments and communities to develop parks and special tourism destinations; providing unique hunting and fishing opportunities to enhance regional tourism; and exploring electronic service delivery to improve timeliness of licensing, authorization and permitting processes for fish, wildlife and park recreation.

Performance Measures:

Hunting and angling licences sold: The ministry is reporting the number of basic hunting and angling licences sold in a particular year. This measure reflects the actual number of hunters and anglers benefiting from these recreational opportunities in British Columbia.

Park visitors: A measure of the economic contribution of parks is being provided through an estimate of the number of park visitors (measured as the number of recorded visits to provincial parks).

Changes in the numbers of hunters, anglers and park visitors provide a reasonable indication of changes in the economic contribution resulting from their activities. However, changes in the number of participants will become a less accurate indicator of changes in the economic contribution of park, fish and wildlife recreation as the types of experiences provided become more varied. It is anticipated that the development of key parks and special tourism destinations and the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will offer new opportunities for participation in and enjoyment of outdoor recreation. Work may be undertaken to more directly estimate the economic contribution to the provincial economy.

The ministry provides corporate leadership and services for ministry programs. Support of government initiatives, fiscal responsibility and efficient client service are ministry priorities reflected by this goal.

The ministry strives to ensure that its resources are used to address high-priority issues in the most effective and efficient ways. Key strategies include: establishing strong strategic policy leadership that focuses on broad directions; undertaking strategic planning and providing leadership to staff that ensures a coordinated and integrated approach to ministry initiatives in all regions of the province; providing leadership in intergovernmental harmonization of regulatory requirements and streamlining of processes through work with the federal government, provinces and territories; eliminating, revising or developing new legislation as appropriate; and managing the compliance and enforcement operations of the ministry.

Performance Measure:

Regulatory reform: As part of its New Era commitments, the government pledged to reduce regulations by 33% overall by June 4, 2004. This was the initial step in reducing the economic burden of prescriptive regulations for industry and other stakeholders. To support this initiative, the ministry had a three-year plan that reduced its regulations by 38% as of June 4, 2004. The next phase of regulatory reform has been identified and related performance targets have been established to continue to monitor ministry progress toward regulatory reform.

Managing programs efficiently, meeting fiscal targets and promoting client satisfaction enable the ministry to have resources available for more initiatives and to make greater progress in delivering its mandate. Key strategies include: implementing a comprehensive performance management framework, including effective monitoring, reporting and performance measurement; assessing risk in decision making;³ implementing a human resource strategy that acknowledges changing workforce requirements, fosters healthy and knowledgeable staff and supports achievement of business objectives; ensuring service requirements and fiscal targets are aligned; identifying methods to reduce the costs incurred by those who must meet environmental standards, reduce conflicts and eliminate service backlogs; and implementing an effective information system strategy.

Performance Measure:

Employee performance and development plans: Achieving this objective requires ministry staff to focus on developing key performance and development goals that will enable them to contribute to accomplishing ministry objectives articulated in the Service Plan. A key initiative for ensuring that this occurs is a ministry requirement for all staff to have an Employee Performance and Development Plan (EPDP). This plan identifies what work an employee is accountable for and makes clear links to the ministry's Service Plan. As the EPDP initiative is being implemented, the ministry is using an output measure to indicate the percentage of staff with an EPDP.