[All] Gravelwatch Review's Abstract and links.

[Louisette Lanteigne]

Gravel Watch Ontario has released a
    Review of SAROS
    (State of the Aggregate Resource, Ontario Study).

Gravel Watch Press Release:  http://www.gravelwatch.org/orig-gw/saros/100719-gwo-Release-on-Review-of-SAROS-final.pdf 

Gravel Watch Review of SAROS:  http://www.gravelwatch.org/orig-gw/saros/100716-Master-Final-SAROS-Review-GWO-TM.pdf 

Summary of SAROS history & related articles:   http://www.gravelwatch.org/saros.htm 

The Review's abstract is:

This report presents a sustainability-based review of the six papers that comprise the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) 2009 State of the Aggregate Resource in Ontario Study (SAROS). One major objective of SAROS is to inform strategic planning for aggregate resource management. Critical problems in the SAROS approach and methodologies diminish the capacity of the study to inform strategic planning and to contribute to sustainable aggregate resource management. The MNR and the consultancies that produced the six papers did not adopt a sustainability-based approach to assess the state of the aggregate resource. The MNR did not clarify the process by which SAROS will inform strategic planning, including any opportunities for public participation in this process. Finally, the conclusions and recommendations of the six papers too often rest on inaccurate and partial data. The consultancies should have adopted cradle-to-grave (life-cycle) or ecosystem-based
 methodological approaches. Instead, the methodologies applied were oriented towards generating findings that primarily address industry-economic concerns. Consequently, subsequent strategic planning informed by SAROS may give inappropriate priority to industry-economic interests at the expense of other significant economic, social and environmental stakeholder concerns. As SAROS stands now, the six papers cannot reasonably inform strategic planning and contribute to sustainability through better aggregate resource management and land use decision making. More research is needed in critical areas to correct the problems highlighted by our review. The SAROS initiative should be extended to incorporate a sustainability-based assessment of the state of the aggregate resource in Ontario.
Regards,
    Ric Holt, President, Gravel Watch Ontario 
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