Introduction - Ecological Governance - page 13

migration routes). 44 Whilst resilience itself is not measurable, the con-
stant study and monitoring of ecosystems would at least allow us to
establish whether the condition of ecosystems appears to be improving
as a result of governmental action for risk reduction. Evidence that
degradation continues unabated would provide strong support for the
application of additional restraints or for arguing that a more rapid
deployment of less harmful options is required. Finally, whilst the system
of governance would promote ecologically sound decisions in the

rst
instance, the inevitable consequence of our ignorance and of ecosystem
dynamism is that actions which are expected to be benign will turn out
to have negative effects. Again, a capacity for monitoring coupled with
legal requirements for the reassessment of prior judgments is needed to
account for the likelihood that, despite a more conservative approach in
decision-making, mistakes will still be made.
With these requirements in mind, I argue that the creation of capa-
bilities for research and monitoring should be a central consideration
in the design of ecological governance. 45 Iexplorein Chapter 7 how law
could be used to maintain a s

decision-making mechanisms. I argue that a permanent institution for
research should be legally established to re

ow of information to support the system '

ect the importance of improved
knowledge and understanding of ecosystem behaviour for determining
how reductions in ecological stresses can best be achieved. 46 In addition, I
examine legal requirements that could be employed to ensure that on-going
monitoring is conducted and to force information production by making
consent for development conditional on its availability. 47
These different legal mechanisms are not, as I note in the introduction to
Chapter 7 , intended to put us in a position where knowledge is suf cient for

' choices to be made between economic growth and ecological

protection. As I argue throughout, the

knife edge '

ne balance that current approaches
to environmental decision-making aspire to does not square with the
dynamism and complexity of ecosystems or with the ethical desirability
of caution in our relations with them. Rather, they are intended to facilitate
a normative precautionary approach to governance by heightening aware-
ness of the threats that different actions may pose for ecosystem health,
and by providing suf cient information for ongoing assessment of the

adequacy of policies and regulatory controls for risk reduction.

44 K. N. Scott,

Tilting at Offshore Windmills: Regulating Wind Farm Development within
the Renewable Energy Zone

'

' (2006) 18 Journal of Environmental Law,92.

45 Chapter 2, Section 2.6 . 46 Chapter 7, Section 7.2 . 47 Chapter7, Sections7.3 and 7.4 .