Marine Ecosystem-based Management Implementation Strategy

Charting a Course for Sustainable Prosperity:
Implementing Ecosystem-based Management (EBM)
Heather Coleman (PacMARA), Edward Gregr (University of British Columbia) and Norma Serra-Sogas (PacMARA)
Contacts: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Summary
Charting a Course for Sustainable Prosperity (“the Chart”) provides an architecture
within which the central elements of EBM can be aligned (Fig. 1). Usually treated as
separate responsibilities, these elements are much more effective if their relationships
are understood from the outset, and operationalized across agencies and jurisdictions
when feasible. Thus, it is a visualisation of the strategy needed to implement EBM.
Figure 1. Organisation of the Chart.
Enabling
Outcome
Capacity Areas
Natural Resources
Ecosystem
Market
Services
Alignment
Capacity
Building
Knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge
Generation
Transfer
Knowledge
Synthesis
Introduction
The British Columbia Marine EBM Community has expressed the need for an integrated
decision-making framework expressed in ecological, social and economic terms.
Governance
Governance
Structures &
Policy &
Processes
Tools
Figure 2. Example of detailed
Enabling Outcomes (Govn).
A leadership
body
coordinates
and manages
EBM efforts
Legal
authority to
act on
management
objectives is
identified
Quotes from the May 2011 EBM Implementation Workshop in Victoria, BC:
“EBM is new and complex – people are not familiar with it, making it difficult to develop
a shared vision.”
“We lack a framework to include ecosystem services and tradeoffs explicitly in
management and decision-making.”
Strategic
Outcomes
“A major gap in EBM is political will and clarity on what EBM is and what it ought to do.
Clear objectives need to be defined so that clear metrics for progress can be addressed.”
Collaboration,
informed joint decisionmaking, participatory
management, and
shared responsibilities
are fostered
Human
activities are
managed
efficiently and
adaptively
Experts from Federal, Provincial, and First Nations governments, industry, academia,
and NGOs in British Columbia have shaped key policy elements of EBM into a
relational roadmap that was guided by revision and peer-review, thus producing the
Chart. A companion document to the Chart elaborates upon the operational
relationships among the elements, and provides background examples and definitions.
Measurable
Objectives
(the triple
bottom-line)
Sustainable
Economies
Human Wellbeing &
Community
Resilience
Management
decisions and
actions are
consistent and
coordinated
Responsibility
and
accountability
are enhanced
Ecosystem
Health
Transparency
in decisionmaking is
achieved
Conclusion
Sustainable Prosperity:
Ultimate Goal
of (Marine)
EBM
More information: http://pacmara.org/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=Charting+a+Course+for+Sustainable+Prosperity
The individual, interactive, and
cumulative effects of human
activities within ecological systems
do not preclude multi-generational
sustainable use of ecosystem
products and services
Communication
specialists
engage
relevant groups
Structure
and terms of
reference for
advisory
committees are
identified
A Strategic
Plan is
developed
Management
is collaborative
and
participatory
Results and Discussion
In its general form, the Chart can help governments and stakeholders examine key
issues and align expectations around EBM components at a broad level. In the context
of a management problem, the Chart will help relate and explain specific aspects of
resource use and conservation planning, identify and prioritise important linkages and
dependencies, and direct development of implementation plans. The Chart identifies
Enabling Outcomes (Fig. 2) that lead to desired Strategic Outcomes, using the “PeoplePlanet-Profit” triple bottom-line as its foundation for defining sustainable prosperity.
Terms of
reference are
defined across
all relevant
groups
Intra- and
inter-agency
communication
processes are
established
Our goal: To develop a roadmap to support legislation, planning, regulation,
enforcement, monitoring and adaptive management in BC.
Methods
All relevant
groups and
institutions are
included
Unified
stakeholder
voice facilitates
decisionmaking
Decision
making is
coupled to
relevant scales
Community
and
stakeholder
engagement is
strengthened
For each management case, the architectural
elements require customisation. With minimal
context, it can help engage interested groups
in understanding the complexities of EBM and
begin to highlight trade-offs. A fully developed
and scored architecture can provide guidance
necessary to promote comprehensive
planning, implementation, management, and
monitoring of the EBM process.
Funded by a SSHRC grant to Kai Chan, Inst. Resources, Environment and Sustainability, UBC.