Monitoring and evaluation for adaptive coastal management

Abstract

Monitoring and evaluation is a critical component of adaptive management, enabling adjustment of management actions and the assumptions upon which they are based. Despite the recognised need for adaptive management of the coastal zone, the way in which monitoring and evaluation can support practice is not often considered. Monitoring involves activities that measure the effectiveness of actions, whereas evaluation involves the interpretation of that information. In the first national study of its type, we analysed the extent that monitoring and evaluation was used to support adaptive management in the coastal zone in Australia. An on-line survey of 70 practitioners found 54 (77%) conducted monitoring and evaluation, and of these, only 25 (46%) used it for adapting management, and 17 (32%) for evaluating management effectiveness and assumptions. Use of monitoring and evaluation for adapting management was significantly correlated with organisation type, but not with perceived sufficiency of monitoring and evaluation, or the extent it informed decision-making. Assessment breadth was highly variable. Organisations who used monitoring and evaluation to adapt management and test assumptions were significantly more likely to conduct broad assessment, although assessment of socio-economic condition, resources and activities were least likely to be assessed. This has implications for the types of management decisions monitoring and evaluation can inform. For example, to determine which actions are most cost effective in preventing coastal erosion, both resources and outcomes need to be assessed. Overall, our results indicate a propensity for organisations to claim adaptive behaviour, but evaluation design does not facilitate it. Inappropriate design, insufficient resources (financial, technical skills), and concern for assessment scale (including the need to share information across organisations to inform regionally meaningful assessments) impede more adaptive behaviour. Capacity building in the use of evaluation frameworks designed to specifically support learning would enhance adaptive coastal management in Australia.