Ministry of Environment
Environmental Stewardship Division
SEI Outreach Program
During the summer of 1999, H.T.Consulting conducted an evaluation of the Sensitive Ecosystems Inventory project. Interviews were conducted with planners from most of the local governments in the study area, as well as representatives from First Nations, consulting groups, non-government organizations, and federal and provincial agencies who have used the maps and data. The intent of this study was to find out how the SEI is being used and received, whether users know about the available support materials and services, and the overall satisfaction levels.
Overall, the majority of respondents (66%) felt that the SEI generally met their needs and expectations, while 19% expressed dissatisfaction. We found that many people were unaware of the original intent of the SEI, and while others were inexperienced in working with GIS information or did not have access to this technology.
One of the biggest concerns was the scale of the mapping (1:20,000). Many people commented that it was useful for general planning purposes, but that a 1:5,000 or better scale was required for site-level plans. Perhaps not surprisingly, regional districts were generally more satisfied with the scale than municipal governments. Unfortunately, the scope and budget of the SEI project did not allow for large-scale mapping, and its intent was only to act as a "flag" for further investigation.
The other major concern was data accuracy, again relating to expectations that exceeded the original purpose of SEI. In some cases, the original airphoto information may now be as much as ten years old, and some the sensitive sites no longer exist or have been extensively modified. We encourage users to let us know of changes so that we can update the database.
We also learned that more than half of the SEI users are not aware of the available support services and materials (such as this Update). Those that did know about and use support services were mostly very satisfied with the help they received. Several respondents said they were looking forward to having the SEI Technical Report and Conservation Manual available. (Note: The Technical Report has since been distributed widely to local governments, First Nations and consultants. The Conservation Manual will be available shortly.)
Non-government users and consultants see the SEI as providing easy access to good data in a form that is readily usable. One enthusiast cited the SEI as "coin of the realm."
We are trying to respond to the needs of users, many of whom told us they would like to see "a human face" more often, and would be interested in participating in information or training sessions as long as the cost was reasonable and the content worthwhile. On this note, we are developing a series of one-day workshops on the application of SEI. We will be visiting and talking to potential participants in the coming weeks to get a better sense of the type of information that would be most useful.
For more information on the survey results and the upcoming workshops, please contact Judith Cullington, SEI Project Coordinator, (250) 391-8772 or jcullington@pacificcoast.net.
Our thanks to everyone who participated in the SEI survey.
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