Adaptive management has become the preferred method of natural resource management (NRM) in Australia over the last two decades. Adaptive management is a scientific approach to management and aims to achieve goals and objectives by applying an efficient and effective learn by doing process to address the risks and uncertainties inherent within unpredictable systems like natural ecosystems and socio-economic environments.

A resilience framework was adopted in the review of the Wheatbelt NRM Strategy, to better reflect the complex interactions that exist between socio-economic and environmental systems within the region. A scientific and adaptive approach to management, such as that provided by adaptive management, is necessary when applying a resilience framework to regional NRM. Resilience recognises the complexity of the systems being managed, the interactions that exist between potential multiple management pathways, the high degree of uncertainty inherent in our natural and social systems and the urgency with which we need to respond to current negative trends in resource condition.

Natural resource management is characterised by scientific and technical, socio-economic, political and financial uncertainties. In addition, a high degree of urgency is associated with the need to act to preserve many of our natural and socio-economic systems. We simply do not have the time orresources to develop certainty in implementing management responses. Achieving NRM outcomes within this environment demands the adoption of effective flexible and adaptive management approaches embracing the decision-critical uncertainty inherent within NRM. Decision-critical uncertainty relates to those elements of the system being managed that we have not quantified effectively or that we don’t entirely understand but are likely to significantly impact the outcome; as opposed to those elements that we do understand or that are less likely to influence the outcome of proposed intervention options.

The central element to adaptive management systems is robust and astute project design. For adaptive management to be effective the principles need to be entrenched throughout the project cycle, from project inception through planning, implementation and evaluation. 

• Five core principles are typically employed within the project planning and implementation cycle (USACE, 2000):
• Promote stakeholder engagement, interagency collaboration, and establish processes for conflict resolution throughout the planning process, starting with formulation of goals and objectives
• Employ a formal, science-based approach to develop system models and hypotheses, identify scientific and technical elements and define decision-critical uncertainty likely to affect the outcome of goals and objectives
• Incorporate flexibility and robustness throughout the project cycle, including planning, design, construction and operations, with the objective of addressing identified decision-critical uncertainties
• Continually incorporate scientific information into the decision-making process to allow for changes as implementation proceeds
• Seek to use the most cost-effective approach to maximise ecosystem restoration.

Examples of problems that involve planning constraints and would benefit from an adaptive management approach include how best to restore flow to a river reach, management of stressors such as industry drainage, and potential conflicts arising from a desire to achieve multiple objectives, such as how to operate large surface storage reservoirs to benefit the environment while also providing for flood attenuation to reduce flood risk and maximising water supply needs (USACE, 2000). In these and other adaptive management applications it is essential to develop real-time models of how the system operates, build flexibility into the physical infrastructure and operating systems, closely monitor the system’s response and compare that to model results, and update models and management and operational guidelines for improved system operation and maintenance. 

Scientific and technical uncertainties are typically addressed by incorporating robustness and flexibility into project design and operational plans, and by providing additional insight through monitoring and assessment to address identified decision-critical uncertainties. In order to provide useful information, monitoring and assessment should be focused on the most important parameters so that they can be measured at a level that can detect change (USACE, 2000). 

Figure 1 illustrates an adaptive management framework used in the development and implementation of environmental projects. A core principle is the evaluation and prioritisation of decision-critical uncertainties as a focus of planning and monitoring project components.

Adaptive management focuses on understanding system interactions and on key elements of decision-critical uncertainty likely to impact project outcomes, reflecting the underlying nature of the systems being managed. Adaptive management is designed to challenge our paradigms about how systems operate by considering what we don’t know about the system in addition to what we think we know, developing conceptual models of how we think the system operates, and then designing our management systems to account for the decision-critical uncertainty. We then adjust our operation and management systems to account for new insights gained from actively observing the system as we implement best-bet management strategies and subsequently revise our conceptual models, ultimately reducing the risk of potential management failure due to unidentified and/or unqualified variable and influences. 

Figure 1. Adaptive Management Project Development Model (Adapted from RECOVER, 2010)

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