CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR RESTORING DEGRADED AREAS IN THE GREAT-LAKES

The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development iden tified capacity-building in Agenda 21 as one of the essential means to implement sustainable development. Capacity-building means an enhance d ability of a country or local region to identify and reach agreement on problems, develop policies and programmes to address them, and mob ilize appropriate resources to fulfill the policies and programmes. On e practical example of capacity-building in developed countries is the development and implementation of comprehensive remedial action plans (RAPs) to restore beneficial uses in 43 degraded areas of the Great L akes, USA. RAPs employ a combination of: human elements and strategies (e.g. empowerment, long-term vision/mission driven, shared decision-m aking); tools and techniques (e.g. pollution prevention, habitat rehab ilitation, remediation of contaminated sediments and hazardous waste s ites); and management support systems (e.g. ecosystem performance meas ures, geographical information systems, information sharing) to build, organize and sustain capacities for the changes and transformations r equired to solve society's environmental problems. Taken together, the se RAP elements contribute to the development of the human, scientific , technological, organizational, institutional and resource capabiliti es necessary to respond to the long-term challenge of ecosystem restor ation in degraded areas of the Great Lakes, consistent with Agenda 21.