EFC addresses the
question, can a standard logic of adaptive* environmental
management be used for planning conservation of environmental
cultural heritage? This is an important question because generally
there is no obligation for conservation organisations to adopt a
standard planning and recording
system. Different
data models are used and it is not easy to share ideas, know how
and achievements between similar sites and different
organisations.
Also, conservation
management is not a central feature of education despite the topic
being the focus of future world development. Therefore,
heritage management is taught from the separate points of view of
history and ecology rather than as an integrated cross curricular
body of knowledge which deals with practical ways of allocating and
accounting for scarce resources. One of the case studies in the EFC programme
presents a selection of conservation management plans for chalk
downland, a habitat that was a focus for early human social
development, where there is now a need for cross discipline, cross
sectorial conservation management
The aim of EFC is to
make comparisons with what many applied ecologists would regard as
the 'gold standard' of planning and recording known as adaptive
management. The logic and the data model of adaptive
management are based on the proposition that successful
conservation management allows the managers to change their
plans appropriately when new information is obtained. The idea is
that actions must be regularly evaluated so that relative success
can be documented and subsequent actions can be adapted for greater
effectiveness.
Adaptive management
can only be successful, when management goals and objectives are
clearly stated so that monitoring benchmarks can be developed
accordingly. Objectives should be 'smart'. That is to say
they should be quantifiable and should address the conservation
target through managing the factors that impact on the state of the
plan's features. They should also address the geographic
area, the actions to be scheduled within a given time frame and a
measurable state or degree of change allowable.
Sampling designs for
evaluating conservation actions should be robust and evidence-based
with opportunities to adequately assess outcomes based on the
analysis of data from monitoring progress. The latter,
defined as power analysis, avoids the possibility of declaring an
action unsuccessful when it was actually working or vice versa.
There must be a commitment of time and money for implementation of
monitoring and for data analysis and evaluation.
Adaptive management
also requires a willingness to modify assumptions, goals and
actions based on new information gained through monitoring efforts.
Therefore it necessitates extensive documentation of hypotheses,
action designs and results.
Research is also a
critical component of the adaptive management approach. Many
conservation actions necessarily proceed with limited ecological
information and without knowledge of whether the conservation
actions proposed are the best approach. Research is needed to run
alongside the management plan to better understand ecological
relationships and to test new and existing approaches. A diversity
of actions to define specific factors that influence the state of
the ecosystem or its built features should be designed, implemented
and monitored to help determine best practices.
The practical
message of EFC is that managers must commit to accepting monitoring
results and to changing conservation actions
accordingly.
*Definitions
There is some
confusion over the use of the terms 'adaptive' and
'adaptable'. The following dictionary definitions will help
clarify their use in relation to the common origin of the two
adjectives that may be used interchangeably.
(Ù-dƒpt')
v., a·dapt·ed,
a·dapt·ing, a·dapts.
v.tr.
To make suitable to or fit for a specific use or situation.
v.intr.
To become adapted: a species that has adapted well to winter
climes.
[Middle English adapten, from Latin adaptāre
: ad-, ad- + aptāre, to fit (from aptus, fitting; see
apt).]
SYNONYMS adapt, accommodate, adjust, conform,
fit, reconcile. These verbs mean to make suitable to or
consistent with a particular situation or use: adapted
themselves to city life; can't accommodate myself to the new
requirements; adjusting their behavior to the rules; conforming her
life to accord with her moral principles; fitting the punishment to
the crime; couldn't reconcile his reassuring words with his hostile
actions.
ANTONYM unfit
(ə-dăp'tĭv)
adj.
-
Relating to or exhibiting
adaptation.
-
Readily capable of adapting or of
being adapted: an adaptive worker; adaptive clothing for
children with special needs.
adaptivelya·dap'tive·ly
adv.
adaptiveness a·dap'tive·ness or ad'ap·tiv'i·ty
(ăd'ăp-tĭv'ĭ-tē) n.
(ə-dăp'tə-bəl)
adj.
Capable of adapting or of being adapted.
adaptabilitya·dapt'a·bil'i·ty or
a·dapt'a·ble·ness n.
ness a·dapt'ed·ness
n.
(ad·ap·at·tion
)
noun\ˌa-ˌdap-ˈtā-shən,
-dəp-\
: something that is adapted; especially : a
movie, book, play, etc., that is changed so that it can be
presented in another form
: a change in a plant or animal that makes it
better able to live in a particular place or situation
: the process of changing to fit some purpose or
situation : the process of adapting.
