Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
statement contextualizes the wetland man-
agement issue, identii es the general threats
and challenges, and outlines an expected
future, which maintains or improves the eco-
logical health and character of a wetland.
•
Goals and objectives
- In addressing a
problem or issue that presents itself to a
particular community, a management plan
must include goals and outcomes and list
expected long-term ecosystem and societal
benei ts through its implementation. Goals
must be detailed, unambiguous, and meas-
ureable, so that a plan's success or failure
may be assessed and lessons learned can be
transferred to other situations.
•
Background assessment
- Having a clear
idea of the current situation is critical in
dei ning future pathways for improvement.
Scoping the geographic context of the
wetland site and surrounding land uses,
gauging wetland-use practices and manage-
ment strategies, identifying key stakehold-
ers, determining legal parameters, zoning
regulations, and other protection ordinances
impacting the site are all essential before
initiating a project.
•
Stakeholder involvement
- Studies have
demonstrated that citizen and stakeholder
involvement at the planning stage of each
step improves its chances of success. Involv-
ing community members and user groups in
identifying issues and proposing solutions
which involve their future builds consensus
and provides credibility and legitimacy to
a plan (Creighton 1992). Moreover, involv-
ing stakeholders could provide innovative
solutions to particularly vexing wetland
management problems that include multiple
community or user groups.
To work, stakeholder involvement needs
to be transparent and the benei ts of partici-
pation should be made obvious. Surveys,
public workshops, i eld trips, educational
forums, and focus groups may all help
include a diverse group of stakeholders,
represent their views and opinions and tap
into their knowledge. Stakeholder feedback
could be incorporated into an adaptive man-
agement strategy whereby new knowledge
or i ndings may readjust or clarify goals and
strategies. Similarly, a plan must also involve
other players including local government,
non-proi t agencies and public land-trust
institutions in the process. Groups such as
Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy,
and similar other organizations within the
United States possess a wealth of informa-
tion that could be benei cial during the
inventorying and implementation phases of
a project.
•
Timeline
- Developing a realistic timeline
that specii es deadlines for the completion
of particular components of a plan is essen-
tial to its overall success. The time required
to complete different aspects of a project
depends on its scale and scope. Providing
enough time for different tasks is necessary
to ensure that important components are not
overlooked.
•
Inventory and assessment
- This step
involves a systematic data collection effort
to document and characterize the biophysi-
cal and socioeconomic characteristics of a
site. Generally, this includes i eld surveys
and other mapping, remote sensing, and
socioeconomic inventorying techniques.
Due to i nancial and time constraints, how-
ever, a rapid assessment program which may
be completed within a day or less provides
a suitable alternative. Organizations such as
Ramsar and the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency recommend several different
approaches for the rapid assessment of
ecological conditions and anthropogenic
impacts within a wetland site (Fennessy,
Jacobs and Kentula 2004). These have been
tested at various sites and under various
conditions with a wide variety of metrics
that produce robust and verii able results.
•
Valuation
- A cost-benei t or other evalua-
tion technique as explained in chapter 11
could be implemented to present alternative
strategies and help in their selection.
•
Budgeting
- Developing a i nancial plan to
pay for the costs incurred in implementing
the different components of the manage-
ment plan is an important step in the process.
Identifying specii c sources of money,
