University of Michigan Releases Guidance from over 60 Marine Ecosystem-Based Management Case Studies

Oct. 16, 2012

Recognizing the declining health of the world’s oceans, policymakers, managers and scientists have called for expanded efforts at ecosystem-based management in marine and coastal systems. To provide guidance for these efforts, an interdisciplinary team of researchers over the last four years has developed a set of case studies that highlight lessons learned from marine ecosystem-based management (MEBM) projects around the globe.

The cases examine how MEBM is working in the real world and how it can be effective in different geographic and political settings, including stories from the United States, Caribbean, western Pacific, Mexico, Canada, northern Europe and Africa.

"It's the largest set of MEBM case studies ever put together, featuring more than 20 comprehensive case studies along with an additional 45 case snapshots,” said Dr. Steven Yaffee, University of Michigan. “Case studies explore the story of a place where people have been trying to adopt innovative strategies for managing marine and coastal resources. Anyone involved in managing ocean resources can use these cases to learn how others have managed the opportunities and challenges that come with MEBM."

This collection of case studies and lessons are housed on an easy-to-navigate website. It provides an interactive, “clickable” map that enables the user to scan for different characteristics of the cases, and learn more about them.  Users can search cases that reflect different geographic scale, duration, types of governance and the kinds of strategies that have been attempted, among other variables.

"One of the major contributions of this website is its synthesis of common lessons learned across the cases that highlight practical takeaways on topics such as getting started, governance, collaboration and managing science," said Julia Wondolleck, an associate professor at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment.

"We hope that these cases provide a benchmark for the current state of MEBM from which we can continue to assess progress and capture additional lessons. The goal of MEBM—healthy oceans supporting healthy communities—will only be achieved through experimentation and adaptation. Learning from real-world experience is essential to that process," Yaffee said.

Julia Wondolleck and Steven Yaffee (University of Michigan) and Heather Leslie andLeila Sievanen (Brown University) andLisa Campbell (Duke University) headed the research teams that produced the case studies.  The David and Lucile Packard Foundation provided funding for the project. 

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