Natural Assets Management Videos
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Why Invest in Asset Management
Is your municipality struggling to plan for growth, the effects of climate change and infrastructure updates Learn how asset management planning and sustainability can help cities and towns of all...Read more
Natural Asset Management - Being Smart with What We've Got
Featuring municipal leaders Jinny Tofflemire (Town of Okotoks, AB) and Duane Nicol (City of Selkirk, MB) this video highlights how local governments can take practical steps to preserve and maintain natural assets as part of sustainable, long-term infrastructure planning.
Natural asset management is helping municipalities build more resilient, affordable, and beautiful communities by working WITH nature instead of against it. By treating our forests, wetlands, and green spaces as critical infrastructure, municipalities across Canada are discovering that natural assets are more climate-resilient, more cost-effective, and better at supporting our built systems than relying solely on traditional infrastructure. YouTube video posted by Natural Assets Initiative, May 13, 2025.
Putting a Value on Nature's Services to the Town of Gibsons, BC a YouTube Video posted by Rick Searle, April 19, 2016.
A clip from an interview with Emanuel Machado, Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Gibsons in which he explains why the municipality is investing in the protection and enhancement of natural ecosystems as part of its infrastructure.
Municipal Natural Assets Initiative
Smart Prosperity Institute, Brooke and Associates, David Suzuki Foundation, and the Town of Gibsons
Natural features and ecosystems (like marshes, forests, and shorelines) can deliver services (like stormwater absorption, water filtration, erosion control) to communities.
The Municipal Natural Assets Initiative helps communities to “count” these natural assets and assign a value that’s equivalent to the service a human-built asset would provide. By counting nature as an asset, municipalities can make a strong financial case for protection and conservation, while relying less on engineered assets. YouTube video posted by the Real Estate Foundation of BC, October 22, 2018.
What is a Natural Asset Inventory? | Leq’á:mel First Nation
What is the value of a berry patch or a stream in the middle of a forest? Leq’á:mel First Nation has just completed a Natural Asset Inventory and will soon start Natural Asset Accounting in Phase 2. Mike Goold is the Indigenous Forestry Referrals and Governance Support lead at LFN and he sees this project as a way to reconcile with traditional knowledge by bringing it back to the forefront of land use planning: "We want to have more involvement. We want to be more at the table when it comes to developing forest policy and how forests are managed throughout [our] territory.” LFN’s report is now available at https://naturalassetsinitiative.ca/leqamel... YouTube video posted by the BC First Nations Council, November 4, 2025.
Leq'a:mel First Nation Two Eyed Seeing Natural Asset Inventory
The NAI Dashboard is a work in progress here at Leq'a:mel First Nation, where we blend Western Map Data with Indigenous Traditional Knowledge to quantify and locate our natural resources and places of cultural significance to support our land stewardship efforts and future projects on Leq'a:mel First Nation's Traditional Territory. This is the Phase 1 of our dashboard, and we're so excited to share with you the hard work our Natural Resources Department has put into this project. Thank you to Bear Image Productions for their amazing work on this video, as well as our gracious funders: The Real Estate Foundation of BC, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. YouTube video posted by Leq'a:mel First Nation, May 8, 2025.
Why do a natural asset inventory? Councillor explains why NAM is a perfect approach in his community
ogy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove (LBMCOC) is a rural community north-east of the City of St. John’s, the modern capital of Newfoundland & Labrador.
Recent growth has led to LBMCOC facing challenges that many communities of all sizes and locations are experiencing: the pressures of increasing development and population, increasing costs, and impacts of climate change on their ability to provide services to their residents. It’s a challenge Councillor Paul Ryan is addressing in a way that’s unconventional, cost-effective, yet becoming increasingly popular — natural asset management (NAM). YouTube video posted by the Natural Assets Initiative, October 19, 2025.
Why Invest in Asset Management
Is your municipality struggling to plan for growth, the effects of climate change and infrastructure updates?
Learn how asset management planning and sustainability can help cities and towns of all sizes across Canada address these issues.
First coined by Australian economist Dr. Penny Burns in 1984, the term "asset management" is now widely used in the municipal sector to focus on physical, rather than financial assets. "Infrastructure management" is sometimes used to mean the same thing. Municipal asset management can include all physical infrastructure assets managed by the municipality, including roads, bridges, water, wastewater, buildings, fleet, recreational facilities and equipment, natural assets, and public safety assets.
There are significant social, environmental and economic gains to be made by helping to support municipal asset management practice in Canada. In applying it, communities across Canada will be better positioned to make their infrastructure dollars go further, with a lighter environmental footprint.
Take five minutes to watch this video to see how asset management planning can help your community. Published by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, September 30, 2016.
Implementing Asset Management
Hear MyTown’s Chief Administrative Officer share approaches to embedding asset management practices into its municipal operations and discover the benefits. Published by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, June 26, 2023.