Go Global

ONE-HECTARE FOREST PLOTS ESTABLISHED TO HELP ASSESS AND UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN OUR FORESTS

The Go Global program is centred around the inventory and monitoring of one-hectare forest plots established by ACER with the collaboration of community partners to demonstrate the importance of local monitoring and reporting of observed environmental changes for effective and meaningful long-term forest biodiversity monitoring programs. The program  came to life with the Niagara Biosphere Reserve Studies (NEBRS) project kicked-off in 1996, in collaboration with Environment Canada and the Smithsonian Institute (SI). All Go Global plots are chosen as representatives of their regional ecosystem based on guidelines set out by the SI with the trees within inventoried and monitored by ACER with the help of ACER-trained volunteers following strict SI international forest research protocols.  To date, this program has provided a wealth of tree growth and health data over the past 30 years, data that can be analyzed to assess and understand the impacts of climate change, or other human or environmental factors, to biodiversity in forest ecosystems..  

As a result of this program, ACER also had the honour of sponsoring several scientific posters (short papers) and training SI staff on best practices for biodiversity monitoring at the International Climate Change and Biodiversity Conference held in Panama in 2008, as an invited guest of the (then) Climate Impacts and Adaptation Division of Environment Canada.