Session Abstract

National Land and Water Information Service

Agricultural land use impacts the water used by over 90% of Canada's population and has a direct influence on the health and safety of Canadians. Trends toward more diverse and intensive agriculture present a higher risk to land and water resources. Proper planning of agricultural development is essential for Canadians to capture economical benefits while retaining environmental quality. However, the information needed by land managers to make environmentally responsible land-use decisions is often not available nor is it accessible.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is developing a National Land and Water Information Service in partnership with other federal departments, provincial and territorial governments, NGO's and industry groups to provide land-use decision makers with access to information, tools and expertise using GIS technologies.

The National Land and Water Information Service, in partnership with others, will lead in providing the best available information, analysis and interpretation of land and water resources to all Canadians. This will result in improved land and water management decisions within a National framework. The National Land and Water Information Service will measurably improve the environmental performance of the agriculture and agri-food sector to provide a quality of life Canadians deserve through improved stewardship of our land, water and air resources. "

Speaker Biography

Bob Parkinson

"Bob Parkinson is the Outreach and Detailed Business Requirements Manager for the National Land and Water Information Service of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, a service under development that will provide on-line access to agri-environmental data, information, tools and expertise to support land-use decision making. Bob has 15 years of geomatics experience in the Public Service. Bob has a certificate in Theoretical and Applied Geographic Information Systems from Simon Fraser University and a M.Sc. degree in the field of GIS from the University of Salford. He is a member and is currently serving as the Vice President of the Canadian Institute of Geomatics. "