Sustainable stewardship of the marine environment necessitates a holistic approach encompassing all the relevant drivers, activities and pressures causing problems for the natural state of the system and their impact on human societies today and in the future. This article provides a framework as well as a decision support process and tool that could guide such an approach. In this process, identifying costs and benefits of mitigation is a first step in deciding on measures and enabling instruments, which has to be accompanied by analyses regarding distributional effects (i.e. who gains or loses) related to different targets and policy instruments. As there are risks of future irreversible regime shifts and even system collapses, the assessments have to be broadened to include scenarios on possible future developments as well as ethical considerations. In particular, a deeper sustainable management strategy may be needed to respond to possible future increases in the rate of environmental change, amongst growing evidence of external pressures, interactions and non-linear dynamics. This adaptive management strategy should focus on building the resilience required to cope with and adapt to change.
Research news | 2018-04-26
Construction of roads and water channels across Colombia’s Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta wetlands has altered the landscape to the point of surpassing mangrove ecosystem tipping points
Research news | 2018-04-26
Over 100 scientists, architects, journalists, artists, designers and activists provide perspectives on what future urban sustainability should look like
Research news | 2018-04-19
New study of UNESCO biosphere reserves sheds light on how people learn to live with social-ecological complexity
Research news | 2018-04-16
Entrepreneurs, NGO’s and others working on transforming the agricultural system into a more sustainable one struggle amid dominant focus on growth-oriented strategies
Research news | 2018-04-12
New documentary film highlights social-ecological challenges facing Ethiopia's food production systems
Educational news | 2018-04-12
Will help practitioners use resilience thinking as a tool to improve development practice