The above diagram shows the logical routes to make a management plan.

The arrows delineate a logical progression from a nature reserve as a particular place located in a nest of maps at country, regional and site level, to its individual compartments defined by views of its conservation features.  Features may be conceptualised as landscapes, or organisms (the species inventory), which function as ecosystems. The condition of each feature is influenced by intrinsic factors, which cannot be managed, such as the local climate and soils, and variable factors, such as human impacts, which can be controlled to bring the feature into a favourable condition.  The manageable factors are the basis of a management plan.