Premium
Adaptive Management for Water Quality Improvement in the Great Barrier Reef Catchments: Learning on the Edge
Author(s) -
BRODERICK KATHLEEN
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
geographical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.695
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-5871
pISSN - 1745-5863
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-5871.2008.00525.x
Subject(s) - adaptive management , process (computing) , natural resource management , quality management , environmental resource management , quality (philosophy) , process management , great barrier reef , resource management (computing) , water quality , business , natural resource , knowledge management , computer science , environmental planning , geography , management system , environmental science , engineering , reef , operations management , political science , ecology , philosophy , computer network , epistemology , law , biology , operating system
This paper proposes using an adaptive management approach to achieve water quality improvement in large catchments with multiple diffuse pollutant issues. Adaptive management involves attention to process, and commitment to continually improving knowledge and practice. It also requires an appreciation of differences in understanding of various stakeholders and an ongoing commitment to learning. Based on research with the Burdekin Dry Tropics regional Natural Resource Management group, the paper shows how the acquisition of knowledge about Water Quality Management can be an aim in itself, rather than an activity peripheral to the planning process. To this end, the paper describes the methods used to elicit stakeholders’ understandings, explores the variation in understandings between key stakeholders, and describes a process used to incorporate the various views in an adaptive management framework for managing water quality. The research findings reveal the importance of process and participation for adaptive management and suggest that success can be judged in terms of learning outcomes.