Our mission

Humans evolved within the earth’s ecosystems and depend in every way on natural processes for sustenance and meaningful living. Functioning ecosystems provide goods and services essential to our social, economic and aesthetic well-being, including clean air and water, food, pharmaceuticals, pest control, and waste assimilation. Unfortunately, human activities have significantly degraded the functioning of ecosystems, threatening to reduce the quality of our lives and those of our descendents.

Recent and ongoing scientific research is identifying methods to effectively restore degraded ecosystems and manage human activity to sustain ecosystem function for future generations. Unfortunately, the full benefit of scientific knowledge and research are frequently not realized by policy makers and resource managers without greater participation by the scientific community. There is often little incentive for scientists to clarify applications of their research, and policy makers or resource managers rarely have the time and resources to develop these applications on their own.

CEMAR was founded by experienced environmental scientists who are committed to bridging the gap between environmental research and policy. The purpose of CEMAR is to refine and clarify the implications of scientific research for policy development and resource management, and to assist policy makers in the effective use of scientific information. The goal of these activities is to promote greater respect for ecological systems and processes, as well as the restoration and sustainable management of natural ecosystems for the benefit of present and future generations.