ASSEMBLY OF MAP-BASED STREAM NARRATIVES TO FACILITATE STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

The development and application of a map-based stream narrative tool are described, which is aimed at promoting a higher level of active involvement by community stakeholders in contributing to information-based watershed management. The approach has been applied in the Kennedy Watershed, Clayoquot Sound, BC, Canada. The core of the stream narrative tool has been created by assembling a photographic base of the main river and riparian corridor. Local area knowledge and records have been assembled into a draft, hardcopy version and an electronic version of the stream narrative atlas for distribution and review by all informants. The expertise and experience of each informant are used to examine the quality of information collected relative to other informants. Experiences to data have shown that the stream narrative atlases and other information sources that engage communities actively have a much better acceptance and subsequent use by local groups and managers for resource management and land-use-planning decisions.