Bush Heritage Australia has been involved in the Gondwana Link connectivity project in the southwestern Western Australian biodiversity hotspot for 14 years. Over this time the management plan has cycled through a major adaptation based on implementation results. This case study outlines some experiences and learnings from an iteration of the Open Standards cycle. See the web page for Gondwana Link on this part of the Bush Heritage Australia website, and on Miradi Share. Key lessons learned are: Choose Targets carefully Ensure that crucial knowledge gaps are filled as a priority so that Targets can be confirmed or changed Ensure…

Ever wonder what happens in the intertidal zone – that area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide? As it turns out, lots happens! And lots of people use and benefit directly or indirectly from this area teeming with life. Acadia National Park, in Maine, NE USA saw many people come together to discuss and work collaboratively to help keep the intertidal zone in this gorgeous park healthy. This workshop, organized and hosted by Acadia National Park and the Schoodic Institute, with support from Maine Sea Grant and FOS, was the second in a…

Rooted in The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Cascade Head Preserve, this case study features adaptive management using ground based research for the Oregon silverspot butterfly, that later grew to encompass diverse stakeholders for conservation management of the Salmon River watershed.  See the Miradi share file here, and the detailed account of the case study here. Background Natural areas managers often work in degraded systems and face uncertainty about how to restore them. Imperiled species require immediate actions for improving habitats even when ideal techniques are unknown. Additionally, individual natural areas are surrounded by a diversity of land uses and ownerships that…

Boolcoomatta is a conservation reserve that has been managed by Bush Heritage Australia for 10 years, during which time the management plan has cycled through three major adaptations based on analysis of implementation and results. Highly commended in the Case Study competition, some experiences and learnings from multiple iterations of the Open Standards cycle are outlined here. Nine years of monitoring data covering 3 updates of the evolving plan inform this analysis, assess the effectiveness of the plan, and measure impact. Background Boolcoomatta is located in the arid rangelands of north-east South Australia. The area has been home to the…

Here you can access the original and the updated version of a comprehensive Excel workbook­, where users can enter planning data based on the Conservation Action Planning (CAP) process (a process that helped inform the Conservation Standards). The updated version, which can be used online, includes: Expanded Key Ecological Attribute (KEA) rating scales (that facilitate return on investment (ROI) assessments). Simpler Stress and Threat ranking approaches. A comparison scorecard for examining current health and future anticipated health (of Conservation Targets and KEAs), with or without action being taken. Two additional resources to check out are: An article on “Landscape Forecasting”,…

NatureServe Vista is a robust conservation assessment and planning software. It is an extension to ArcGIS 10.x in continuous release since 2004. The tool’s functions fit well with the spatial aspects of the Open Standards and it works well in a toolkit approach such as with Miradi, Marxan, InVEST and other conservation tools. It is also a multi-objective tool that facilitates finding balanced solutions when working with multiple use agencies or communities to represent their socioeconomic values. Vista supports the full planning cycle from gathering expert knowledge and spatial data, finding patterns of value in the landscape/seascape, conducting scenario-based cumulative…

This case study was winner of the 2016 Adaptive Management Case Study competition as it amply demonstrated the power of the Open Standards in refocusing effort according to evidence, the use of participatory spatial planning and for delivering results on the ground. In Chimpanzee habitat that occurs in village lands above Lake Tanganyika, the Jane Goodall Institute assessed their project situation using the steps of the Open Standards and realized some of their primary assumptions were misplaced and thus some strategies employed were less effective. Using participatory planning localized to each village community and with the aid of spatial mapping,…