The origin of the adaptive management concept can be traced back to ideas of scientific management pioneered by Frederick Taylor in the early 1900s (Haber 1964). In using these techniques, the Yap people have altered their environment creating, for example, coastal mangrove depressions and seagrass meadows to support fishing and termite resistant wood (Stankey and Shinder 1997). For example, the Yap people of Micronesia have been using adaptive management techniques to sustain high population densities in the face of resource scarcity for thousands of years (Falanruw 1984). The use of adaptive management techniques can be traced back to peoples from ancient civilisations.

data are analyzed and presented, but are not used for decision-making because of internal or external factors.

data are analyzed and are interesting, but are not presented to decision makers.

data are analyzed but results are inconclusive.

data collection is never completely implemented.

However, a number of process failures related to information feedback can prevent effective adaptive management decision making:

Embracing risk and uncertainty as a way of building understanding.

Explicit characterization of system uncertainty through multi-model inference.

Feedback between monitoring and decisions (learning).

Iterative decision-making (evaluating results and adjusting actions on the basis of what has been learned).

Key features of both passive and active adaptive management are: Often, deriving actively adaptive policies is technically very difficult, which prevents it being more commonly applied. Thus, while learning occurs in both cases, it is treated differently.

In both cases, as new knowledge is gained, the models are updated and optimal management strategies are derived accordingly. In contrast, active adaptive management explicitly incorporates learning as part of the objective function, and hence, decisions which improve learning are valued over those which do not. passively), as measured by the specified utility function. Passive adaptive management values learning only insofar as it improves decision outcomes (i.e. It must focus on the development of new institutions and institutional strategies in balance with scientific hypothesis and experimental frameworks ().Īdaptive management can proceed as either passive or active adaptive management, depending on how learning takes place. Adaptive management must therefore be a scientific and social process. Adaptive management needs to at least maintain political openness, but usually aims to create it. The achievement of these objectives requires an open management process which seeks to include past, present and future stakeholders. Communication of alternatives to political arena for negotiation of a selection.Use of embodied ecological consensus to evaluate strategic alternatives.Use of computer models to build synthesis and an embodied ecological consensus.Management retains a focus on statistical power and controls.Management is linked to appropriate temporal and spatial scales.There are a number of scientific and social processes which are vital components of adaptive management, including: 7 Use in other practices as a tool for sustainability.

5 Application to environmental projects and programs.This approach has more recently been employed in implementing international development programs. The challenge in using the adaptive management approach lies in finding the correct balance between gaining knowledge to improve management in the future and achieving the best short-term outcome based on current knowledge. Because adaptive management is based on a learning process, it improves long-run management outcomes. Adaptive management is a tool which should be used not only to change a system, but also to learn about the system. In this way, decision making simultaneously meets one or more resource management objectives and, either passively or actively, accrues information needed to improve future management.

( October 2012) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Īdaptive management, also known as adaptive resource management or adaptive environmental assessment and management, is a structured, iterative process of robust decision making in the face of uncertainty, with an aim to reducing uncertainty over time via system monitoring. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations.

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