Ministry of Forests Branches Search the Forest Practices Branch Web Site Send a Note to the Forest Practices Branch Contact Information for the Forest Practices Branch
Adaptive Management Logo

    

DEFINITIONS OF ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT

Adaptive management has been defined in various ways since its development in the early 1970s. We recognize that different people and organisations continue to have somewhat differing views of the best definition for their purposes. In order to bring some consistency and clarity to what we in the BC Forest Service mean when we say "adaptive management", we have decided to use a standard working definition for the term, as follows:

Adaptive management is a systematic process for continually improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of operational programs. Its most effective form–"active" adaptive management–employs management programs that are designed to experimentally compare selected policies or practices, by evaluating alternative hypotheses about the system being managed.

We often portray the adaptive management process a six-step cycle, and emphasize that successful adaptive management requires managers to complete all six steps:

6 Steps Image

 

Some of the differentiating characteristics of adaptive management are:

  1. acknowledgement of uncertainty about what policy or practice is "best" for the particular management issue,

  2. thoughtful selection of the policies or practices to be applied (the assessment and design stages of the cycle),

  3. careful implementation of a plan of action designed to reveal the critical knowledge that is currently lacking,

  4. monitoring of key response indicators,

  5. analysis of the management outcomes in consideration of the original objectives, and

  6. incorporation of the results into future decisions.

Some other definitions

Bormann et al. 1994, p. 1: "...is 'learning to manage by managing to learn'..."

Halbert, C.L. 1993, p. 261-262: "...is an innovative technique that uses scientific information to help formulate management strategies in order to 'learn' from programs so that subsequent improvements can be made in formulating both successful policy and improved management programs."

Lee, K.N., 1993, p. 9: AM..."...embodies a simple imperative: policies are experiments; learn from them." (italics are the author’s).

Lee K. N. and J. Lawrence, 1986, p 435: "...is a policy framework that recognizes biological uncertainty, while accepting the congressional mandate to proceed on the basis of the 'best available scientific knowledge'. An adaptive policy treats the program as a set of experiments designed to test and extend the scientific basis of fish and wildlife management."

Scientific Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices in Clayoquot Sound, 1995, p. 271: "The rigorous combination of management, research, and monitoring so that credible information is gained and management activities can be modified by experience. Adaptive policy acknowledges institutional barriers to change and designs means to overcome them."

 Sources

Bormann, B.T., P.G. Cunningham, M.H. Brookes, V.W. Manning, and M.W. Collopy. 1993. Adaptive ecosystem management in the Pacific Northwest. USDA For. Serv. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-341. 22 pages.

Halbert, C.L. 1993. How adaptive is adaptive management? Implementing adaptive management in Washington State and British Columbia. Reviews in Fisheries Science 1:261-283.

Lee, K.N. 1993. Compass and gyroscope: Integrating science and politics for the environment. Island Press, Washington, DC.

Lee, K.N. and J. Lawrence. 1986. Adaptive management: Learning from the Columbia River basin fish and wildlife program. Environmental Law 16: 431-460.

Scientific Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices in Clayoquot Sound. 1995. Sustainable Ecosystem Management in Clayoquot Sound: Planning and practices. Victoria, BC. 296 pages.

     Back to the top