A Fisheries Sensitive Watershed (FSW) is a mapped area with specific management objectives intended to guide development activities which may adversely impact important fish values . FSWs within this set of data are currently in the review and consultation stage of the area designation process. As FSWs are designated they will be moved into the [Approved Fisheries Sensitive Watersheds](http://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/fisheries-sensitive-watersheds) dataset and thus often this dataset is empty.

An Element Occurrence (EO) is an area of land and/or water in which a species or ecological community is, or was, present. An Element is either a species (or subspecies taxa) or an ecological community, the Occurrence is the documented location. The EO concept is part of NatureServe methodology. This methodology is used throughout the NatureServe network. EOs are created based on the Element Occurrence Data Standard and are a derived product developed from submitted observations. An EO should have practical conservation value for the Element as evidenced by potential continued (or historical) presence and/or regular recurrence at a given location. For Species Elements, the EO often corresponds with the local population, but when appropriate may be a portion of a population (e.g., for long distance dispersers) or may be a group of nearby populations (e.g., metapopulation). For Ecological Community Elements, the EO may represent a stand or patch of a natural community, or a cluster of stands or patches of a natural community. This dataset contains Sensitive EOs. Sensitive EOs are occurrences of species that are rare (or of conservation concern) and in these cases the precise location details cannot be distributed without due cause. In most cases these locations are not freely available because the species are legally listed (for example, under Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act) or are of particular concern to the Alberta government, thus Sensitive EO data in this layer is hazed (generalized) to the Alberta Township System Township (ATS) polygons (v4.1). This data updates on a daily basis.

The dataset contains approved legal boundaries for fisheries sensitive watersheds. A FSW is a mapped area with specific management objectives intended to guide development activities which may adversely impact important fish values

The fish activity area data represents the consolidation of two fish data classes collected by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The data estimates locations used by fish for activities such as spawning and nursing young. Locations are represented as polygons. They may be related to a specific species or described more generally. There are additional sensitive features related to provincially tracked species and species at risk that are not available as part of the open data package. Sensitive features are subject to licensing and approvals and may be requested by contacting geospatial@ontario.ca.

The wildlife values area and site datasets represent the consolidation of 13 wildlife data classes collected by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The data estimates locations used by wildlife for various reasons, including: * breeding * calving and fawning * denning * feeding * staging * nesting * wintering * general habitat areas * nurseries * travel corridors Locations are represented as points (site) or polygons (area) and may be related to a specific species or described more generally. Wildlife values data is most often used to support policy and legislation associated with the Crown Forest Sustainability Act. The data may also be used to inform a wide range of resource management activities and decisions. There are additional sensitive features related to provincially tracked species and species at risk that are not available as part of the open data package. Sensitive features are subject to licensing and approvals and may be requested by contacting [geospatial@ontario.ca](geospatial@ontario.ca).

Boundary of Rose Swanson sensitive area within the Vernon Forest District

The wildlife values area and site datasets represent the consolidation of 13 wildlife data classes collected by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The data estimates locations used by wildlife for various reasons, including: * breeding * calving and fawning * denning * feeding * staging * nesting * wintering * general habitat areas * nurseries * travel corridors Locations are represented as points (site) or polygons (area) and may be related to a specific species or described more generally. Wildlife values data is most often used to support policy and legislation associated with the Crown Forest Sustainability Act. The data may also be used to inform a wide range of resource management activities and decisions. There are additional sensitive features related to provincially tracked species and species at risk that are not available as part of the open data package. Sensitive features are subject to licensing and approvals and may be requested by contacting [geospatial@ontario.ca](geospatial@ontario.ca).

Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) are areas within Canada's oceans that have been identified through formal scientific assessments as having special biological or ecological significance when compared with the surrounding marine ecosystem.Failure to define an area as an EBSA does not mean that it is unimportant ecologically. All areas serve ecological functions to some extent and require sustainable management. Rather, areas identified as EBSAs should be viewed as the most important areas where, with existing knowledge, regulators and marine users should be particularly risk averse to ensure ecosystems remain healthy and productive.Why are EBSAs identified?EBSA information is used to inform marine planning, including environmental assessment and the siting of marine-based activities, by:- Informing and guiding project-specific or regional environmental assessments;- Informing and guiding industries and regulators in their planning and operations, for example: EBSAs have been acknowledged and referred to (often as "Special Areas" or "Potentially Sensitive Areas") in oil and gas related assessments;- EBSA information has been provided to proponents of submarine cable projects to be used for route planning purposes;- Informing and guiding Integrated Oceans Management (IOM) process within five Large Ocean Management Areas (LOMAs) and twelve marine bioregions;- Serving as a basis for the identification of Areas of Interest (AOIs) and of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) (individually and in the context of planning bioregional networks of MPAs).How are EBSAs identified?The process used to identify EBSAs is generally comprised of two phases. The first phase involves compiling scientific data and knowledge of a marine area's ecosystems - notably fish species, marine mammals, sea birds, marine flora, marine productivity, physical and chemical conditions and geology. "Knowledge" includes experiential knowledge of long-time uses of the areas. In some cases (e.g., in the Arctic), substantial efforts are taken to collect traditional knowledge on ecosystems and environmental conditions from community members, fish harvests, hunters and individuals whose knowledge of the study area complement often helps fill scientific data gaps.In the second phase, the available information for a marine area (e.g. a bioregion) is assessed against five nationally-established science-based criteria including:- Uniqueness: How distinct is the ecosystem of an area compared to surrounding ones?- Aggregation: Whether or not species populate or convene to the study area?- Fitness consequence: How critical the area is to the life history of the species that use it (e.g. is it a spawning or feeding ground)?- Naturalness: How pristine or disturbed by human activities is the study area?- Resilience: What is the ability of the ecosystem to bounce back if it is disturbed?Progress to date and next stepsEBSAs have been identified for large portions of Canada's Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as most of the Arctic oceans. EBSAs will continue to be identified in priority areas as resources become available to carry out the process. The boundaries or locations of existing EBSAs may be modified to reflect both new knowledge and changing environmental conditions.

A source protection area (SPA) is an area of land and water governed by a Source Protection Authority, an agency, person or body. This dataset defines the geographic boundaries where each SPA's terms of reference, assessment reports and source protection plans must be developed. *[SPA]: source protection area

A Rest Area is a developed roadside area for the use of the traveling public which must contain a washroom, and often has litter receptacles, picnic tables and other facilities. It is a Point feature