Balancing legal flexibility and certainty for adaptive management | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

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Balancing legal flexibility and certainty for adaptive management

Why did we undertake this study?

Adaptive management is considered a valuable approach for managing complex and uncertain social-ecological systems. However, many obstacles hamper its implementation. Law is often seen as a barrier to adaptive management practice, but there is no synthesis of the legal constraints or how to overcome them.

How was it done?

We conducted a systematic literature review to examine the relationship between adaptive management and law. The literature sample (80 publications) was classified according to thematic categories (eg geographic context and main environmental concern). Through thematic coding, passages of text from publications were linked by common themes and ideas.

What did we find?

Implications

Overall, coupling adaptive management and law depends on balancing legal certainty and legal flexibility. Further research is needed to investigate this interplay, particularly in jurisdictions outside the United States. Research in developing countries and comparative studies could provide additional insight and improve knowledge of the role of law in adaptive management practice.

Learn more

The full paper is available from: https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10060-230223

Citation: Frohlich, MF, Jacobson, C, Fidelman, P, Smith, TF, 2018. The relationship between adaptive management of social-ecological systems and law: a systematic review. Ecology and Society 23(2):23.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council Discovery Projects Funding Scheme (Project FT180100652) and a Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship. This work contributes to Future Earth Coasts, a Global Research Project of Future Earth. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government, Australian Research Council or Future Earth Coasts