Brunner, R. & T.W. Clark, 1997, A practice-based approach to ecosystem management, in: Conservation biology, 11, 1
- Author : Brunner, R. & T.W. Clark
- Year : 1997
- Journal/Series : Conservation biology
- Volume Number (ANNUAL: Counting Volumes of the Year shown above) : 1
- Volume Number (CONSECUTIVE: Counting all Volumes of this Journal ever published) : 11
- Pages : 48-58
- Abstract in English : Ecosystem management is a rapidly evolving philosophy or paradigm of natural resource management intended to sustain the integrity of ecosystems. The problem is that principles of ecosystem management are unsatisfactory for practical purposes. The authors evaluated three approaches to the problem because the are influential or significant for improving principles of ecosystem management: (1) clarification of the goals of ecosystem management; (2) constructing a solid scientific foundation for ecosystem management and effective decisions, (3) evaluating practice and what can be learned from it. The purpose is to integrate these three approaches, as part of the long-term effort of conservation biologists and practitioners to improve principles of ecosystem management for practical purposes. The thesis is that ecosystem management must be an evolutionary process because ecosystems contexts are far too diverse, complex, and dynamic for anyone to understand completely, completely objectively, or once and for all. Concluded is: clearer general goals and better scientific foundation are means for improving decisions on behalf of ecosystem integrity, but they are not ends in themselves or substitutes for practice-based improvements. Practice provides a reality check on considerations integrated into decisions, the best opportunity for learning from experience, and the only reliable gauge (indicator) of progress in ecosystem management.
- Comments/Notes : KEYWORDS: ecosystem management, practice, evaluation, management philosophy, [urban forestry]. COMMENTS: the massage of this article goes further than strict ecosystem management; it can be read in the context of urban forestry too.