Towards adaptive management: Lessons from a “legal storm” | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Accessibility links

Non-production environment - edittest.usc.edu.au

Towards adaptive management: Lessons from a “legal storm”

Why did we undertake this study?

Adaptive management is considered integral to Integrated Coastal Management (ICM). Yet, adaptive management practice has  faced many challenges. In this study we examined the legal factors influencing adaptive management.

How was it done?

In Byron Shire, New South Wales, Australia, we investigated juridical constraints to adaptive coastal management. Belongil Beach, a coastal erosion hotspot in Byron Shire, was the focus of our case study. We analysed documents (i.e. legislation, case law, management documents, and academic publications) and interviewed 23 key informants, including government, non-government organisations, legal experts, and technical experts, to gain their perspectives on the legal barriers to adaptive coastal management.

What did we find?

Implications

Our case study illustrates how an emphasis on legal certainty can create legacies and path dependencies that hinder adaptive coastal management. This research calls attention to the need for legal reform to better accommodate adaptive management in coastal management legislation.

Learn more

The full paper is available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2019.104909

Citation: Frohlich, MF, Smith, TF, Jacobson, C, Fidelman, P, Carter, RWB, Baldwin, C, 2019. Towards adaptive coastal management: lessons from a “legal storm” in Byron Shire, Australia. Ocean and Coastal Management 179, 104909.

Download a PDF version of this summary

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.