The Evolution of Ecosystem Based
Management: From Theory to Practice, the
2006 Marine Law Symposium held at Roger
Williams University School of Law, provided
analysis of ecosystem based management -- a
multi-faceted, integrated approach that
strives to maintain healthy, productive and
resilient ecosystems. The Symposium
emphasized the management and protection of
the marine environment, with discussion of
challenges, lessons and solutions related to
socio-economic and political factors
influencing implementation of EBM within the
terrestrial environment and the goods and
services required by user populations,
including human. Presentations and
discussion revealed that the rapid changes
in human demography and spatial distribution
over the short-term make a strong argument
for more comprehensive, integrated
approaches to coastal resource management.
Such approaches include environmental ethics
-- the success of which depends on achieving
not just conservation goals but serving
economic, cultural, and social needs as
well; a system-based analysis of watershed
management (or "ecozoning"); adaptive
management; and ecosystem modeling to engage
local resource users.
Invited speakers who contributed to the
discussion elaborated further in their
respective submissions on EBM below:
