Understanding Barriers to Implementation of an Adaptive Land Management Program

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission manages over 650,000 ha, including 26 wildlife management and environmental areas. To improve management, they developed an objective-based vegetation management (OBVM) process that focuses on desired conditions of plant communities through an ad...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Conservation biology 2006-10, Vol.20 (5), p.1516-1527
Main Authors: JACOBSON, SUSAN K., MORRIS, JULIE K., SANDERS, J. SCOTT, WILEY, EUGENE N., BROOKS, MICHAEL, BENNETTS, ROBERT E., PERCIVAL, H. FRANKLIN, MARYNOWSKI, SUSAN
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adaptive management
Agricultural management
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Animals, Wild
Applied ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Biology
cambio organizacional
communication
comunicación
Conservation biology
Conservation of Natural Resources - legislation & jurisprudence
Conservation of Natural Resources - methods
Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife
Cultural values
Data Collection
Ecosystem
Ecosystem management
Ecosystems
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Environmental Monitoring - standards
Florida
Forest management
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
gestión de ecosistemas
gestión de vegetación
gestión de vida silvestre
Government Agencies - organization & administration
Land management
manejo adaptativo
organizational change
Organizational Policy
Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking
Plant populations
Policy Making
Program Evaluation
Synecology
Vegetation management
Wildlife conservation
Wildlife management
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Summary:The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission manages over 650,000 ha, including 26 wildlife management and environmental areas. To improve management, they developed an objective-based vegetation management (OBVM) process that focuses on desired conditions of plant communities through an adaptive management framework. Our goals were to understand potential barriers to implementing OBVM and to recommend strategies to overcome barriers. A literature review identified 47 potential barriers in six categories to implementation of adaptive and ecosystem management: logistical, communication, attitudinal, institutional, conceptual, and educational. We explored these barriers through a bureau-wide survey of 90 staff involved in OBVM and personal interviews with area managers, scientists, and administrators. The survey incorporated an organizational culture assessment instrument to gauge how institutional factors might influence OBVM implementation. The survey response rate was 69%. Logistics and communications were the greatest barriers to implementing OBVM. Respondents perceived that the agency had inadequate resources for implementing OBVM and provided inadequate information. About one-third of the respondents believed OBVM would decrease their job flexibility and perceived greater institutional barriers to the approach. The 43% of respondents who believed they would have more responsibility under OBVM also had greater attitudinal barriers. A similar percentage of respondents reported OBVM would not give enough priority to wildlife. Staff believed that current agency culture was hierarchical but preferred a culture that would provide more flexibility for adaptive management and would foster learning from land management activities. In light of the barriers to OBVM, we recommend the following: (1) mitigation of logistical barriers by addressing real and perceived constraints of staff, funds, and other resources in a participatory manner; (2) mitigation of communication barriers through interpersonal and electronic communication channels; (3) development of an OBVM external advisory committee; and (4) adoption of characteristics of an organizational culture that promotes flexibility and learning.
ISSN:0888-8892
1523-1739
DOI:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00476.x