Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program (CIMP)

Monitoring and Reporting

What is monitored?

“Valued Components” (VCs) are important parts of the environment Northerners think should be monitored.

Although the Northwest Territories Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program (NWT CIMP) uses a broad definition of ‘environment’ to include both biophysical (land, water and air) and human (social, economic, and cultural), it currently places an emphasis on the biophysical environment.

Through a priority-setting exercise in 2011 (reconfirmed in 2014), key NWT decision makers directed NWT CIMP to focus on three VCs of critical importance to the people of the NWT: water, fish and caribou.

These VCs are monitored through a variety of programs developed by NWT communities, governments, industry and other organizations by experts from Aboriginal governments, territorial and federal governments, academia, co-management bodies, industry and environmental non-government organizations.

What projects does NWT CIMP support?

One way NWT CIMP supports research and monitoring of cumulative impacts and environmental trends is by providing funding to partners through an annual Request for Proposals (RFP) process. 

Preference is given to collaborative projects that demonstrate cumulative impact monitoring results of multi-Valued Components (caribou, fish, water), the involvement of key partners, and are designed using the NWT CIMP Pathway Approach.

The NWT CIMP Steering Committee annually reviews project proposals based on a competitive process and makes recommendations to Environment and Natural Resources for funding allocation.

Refer to Apply for funding for more information, including instructions, templates and key dates.

How is the monitoring information collected?

NWT CIMP has created Pathway to Better Monitoring in Canada's North, a step-by-step guide to designing northern monitoring programs using the Pathway Approach that encourage collaboration between science and traditional knowledge, and addresses community and decision-makers' needs.

This is an important step forward that better aligns community interests with northern monitoring and research efforts, and will support the use of data and results in decision-making on northern issues.

Where can I find the information?

You can find the information on the web-based information repository called the NWT Discovery Portal. This Portal aims to be the most comprehensive online source for NWT environmental monitoring knowledge.

How do we make sure the monitoring program is effective?

As required by the Sahtu, Gwich'in and Tlicho final agreements and by the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, the NWT Environmental Audit is conducted every five years by an independent Auditor to check on the health of the environment, the efficiency of environmental management processes, the status of the implementation of recommendations from previous audits and the effectiveness of NWT CIMP.