Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
7.5.2.6 Monitoring and review
Although it is not realistic to carry out full decision analyses every year, it is import-
ant to remember that management is an ongoing and dynamic process which is put
in place for the long term, and not just implemented in a 3-year project and then
left to run itself. Management actions involve setting up the institutional struc-
tures that not only implement the chosen activity but also carry out monitoring
and enforcement, and are able to use the results of monitoring to respond to
changes.
Roughgarden and Smith (1996) proposed the 'rule of three-quarters'—that the
best form of management is to determine the offtake that represents a stock size of
three-quarters of carrying capacity, and then implement this in perpetuity. This is
the antithesis of
adaptive management
, which has become a major theme in
resource management (Walters 1986; Parma
et al
. 1998; Lee 1999). There are also
shades of management approach between these extremes (Table 7.3).
There is a tempting simplicity to static management. If a no-take area is set aside,
for example, and people can harvest in the rest of the area, it may appear that the
problem is solved. However, no conservation solution is sustainable in the absence
of monitoring for compliance, and there is also a need for ongoing ecological mon-
itoring to ensure that the management outcomes are being fulfilled. Even this is not
enough. In the real world, the context for conservation is always changing—the
Table 7.3
Approaches to management.
Name
Approach
Static management Determine sustainable offtake, devise harvesting rule, monitor
and enforce. No feedback between harvesting rule and
outcome. Simple to set and enforce but not likely to be robust
to changes.
Reactive Fire-fighting. Set management rule, monitor outcomes, change
management if things go wrong. Inefficient, may be missing better options.
Response may be too late.
Passive adaptive Learn from outcomes of previous management actions.
management Feedback between outcomes and actions through review and
revision. May not obtain maximum benefits through lack of
exploration of options.
Active adaptive Management has learning as an explicit objective ('learning by
management doing'). Set up as an experiment to reduce uncertainty and
explore system dynamics. Learning has short-term costs for
potential long-term benefits. May be unsuitable for endangered
species because varying management may be risky.
Source
: Adapted from Shea
et al
. 2002.
