Reporting on the Health of the Salish Sea via transboundary ecosystem indicators: Reflecting on twenty years and mobilizing for the future

The Joint Statement of Cooperation for the Georgia Basin and Puget Sound (now Salish Sea) established Salish Sea ecosystem Indicators reporting to support knowledge sharing and to identify common priorities for action across the international boundary. The newly-updated report consists of 10 indicators and focuses mostly on quantitative information that present the state of water, air, species, and human wellbeing, and describes briefly how these elements are interconnected. The updated report describes mixed trends among the suite of ecosystem indicators, reflecting the complexity of the system. Over the 20 years of reporting on the health of the Salish Sea, the Statement of Cooperation indicator team leads have periodically re-examined the indicator reporting scope and adjusted the content of subsequent indicator reports. In 2022, we will invite partners and advisors to help us consider how we could improve the next Salish Sea ecosystem indicator report. We want to explore some particular questions including: • How could we better include local context and Indigenous Knowledge to augment and convey the importance of the trends that we are seeing through quantitative indicators? • Are there other indicators that should be added to the suite, or linkages that should be emphasized? • How could we better align and leverage the broader body of available ecosystem status and trend information to inform and influence practitioners and the public toward greater protection and restoration efforts? The ultimate goal is to present a report that describes the changes to the ecosystem over a broadened timeline, is meaningful to communities throughout the Salish Sea, instills a deeper sense of place for all readers, and compels broader support for protection and recovery actions. This poster will summarize recent indicator findings and will frame the scope and approach for the next update of the Health of the Salish Sea report