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The problems with the decline of the diversity and natural resources of the oceans are now well recognized and there have been increasing calls for new approaches to management.
Ecosystem-based management is a developing field that is being increasingly well defined in practice with basic principles identified by scientists and policymakers including work
An Integrated Approach to Management
Ecosystem-based management is an integrated approach to management that considers the entire ecosystem, including humans. The goal of E-BM is to maintain an ecosystem in a healthy, productive and resilient condition so that it can provide the services humans want and need. Current approaches usually only focus on a single species, sector, activity or concern; but E-BM considers the cumulative impacts of different sectors.
"Specifically, E-BM:
- emphasizes the protection of ecosystem structure, functioning and key processes;
- is place-based in focusing on a specific ecosystem and the range of activities affecting it;
- explicitly accounts for the interconnectedness among systems, such as between air, land and sea; and
- integrates ecological, social, economic and institutional perspectives, recognizing their strong interdependences."
-COMPASS Scientific Consensus Statement
"Ecosystem management includes the following elements:
1) Sustainability. Ecosystem management does not focus primarily on "deliverables" but rather regards intergenerational sustainability as a precondition.
2) Goals. Ecosystem management establishes measurable goals that specify future processes and outcomes necessary for sustainability.
3) Sound ecological models and understanding. Ecosystem management relies on research performed at all levels of ecological organization.
4) Complexity and connectedness. Ecosystem management recognizes that biological diversity and structural complexity strengthen ecosystems against disturbance and supply the genetic resources necessary to adapt to long-term change.
5) The dynamic character of ecosystems. Recognizing that change and evolution are inherent in ecosystem sustainability, ecosystem management avoids attempts to "freeze" ecosystems in a particular state or configuration.
6) Context and scale. Ecosystem processes operate over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, and their behavior at any given location is greatly affected by surrounding systems. Thus, there is no single appropriate scale or time frame for management.
7) Humans as ecosystem components. Ecosystem management values the active role of humans in achieving sustainable management goals.
8) Adaptability and accountability. Ecosystem management acknowledges that current knowledge and paradigms of ecosystem function are provisional, incomplete and subject to change. Management approaches must be viewed as hypotheses to be tested by research and monitoring programs."
-Christensen et al. 1996. Ecological Applications 6(3): 665-691
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These key principles are illustrated in numerous consensus reports:
"The goal of E-BM is to maintain the health of the whole as well as the parts. It acknowledges the connections among things."
-Pew Oceans Report, 2003
"E-BM looks at all the links among living and nonliving resources, rather than considering single issues in isolation . . . Instead of developing a management plan for one issue . . ., E-BM focuses on the multiple activities occurring within specific areas that are defined by ecosystem rather than political boundaries."
-U.S. Ocean Commission Report, 2004
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