Testing a recipe for effective recovery plan design: a marine turtle case study

Jd Roberts,M Hamann

doi:10.3354/esr00755

Abstract

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 31:147-161 (2016) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00755 Testing a recipe for effective recovery plan design: a marine turtle case study Jasmine D. Roberts, Mark Hamann* College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville QLD 4811, Australia *Corresponding author: mark.hamann@jcu.edu.au ABSTRACT: Managing impacts to threatened species is challenging, because it is intrinsically linked to resources, knowledge, capacity and public and government will. A key tool often used in species conservation is a recovery or management plan. Yet all too often, plans are not designed for evaluation and not tested against quantitative criteria. Our study takes a novel approach to recovery plan assessment by assembling a worldwide database of recovery plans for a single taxon. We obtained 79 recovery or management plans for marine turtles and then designed criteria to assess and compare them for their ability to be evaluated and thus successfully implemented. We then used expert opinion of marine turtle specialists to weigh our 18 criteria. Overall, we found that the failure to adequately integrate adaptive management into plan design was a major shortcoming of marine turtle recovery planning (>90% of plans). Other common gaps included inadequacy of measurable objectives (75% of plans) and an absence of timelines (50% of plans). We highlight knowledge gaps relating to status trends, critical habitat and a lack of incorporation of social aspects such as stewardship and education. Our research underlines the importance of recovery planning from multiple scales and provides a step towards designing recovery plans that include SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) objectives; scientific information; social aspects; and evaluation. We highlight the importance of national and multi-national planning processes to produce internationally relevant plans that will maximise conservation efforts for a globally threatened marine species. KEY WORDS: Marine turtles · Recovery planning · Threatened species · SMART Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Roberts JD, Hamann M (2016) Testing a recipe for effective recovery plan design: a marine turtle case study. Endang Species Res 31:147-161. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00755 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 31. Online publication date: October 13, 2016 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2016 Inter-Research.

Highlights

It is well established that biodiversity in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems is declining and that financial resources and knowledge influence mitigation of future losses (Jackson et al 2001, Butchart et al 2010, Hooper et al 2012)
Each plan was examined for the following content attributes: date of plan/last revision, scale of plan, geographical location, whether the plan pertained to 1 or multiple species, whether the nation(s) involved were party to relevant international treaties (CITES and Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals), Human Development Index (HDI) of the corresponding nation and whether the plan was supported by management at other spatial scales
We examined 79 plans aimed at improving management of marine turtles from across the globe

Summary

Introduction

It is well established that biodiversity in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems is declining and that financial resources and knowledge influence mitigation of future losses (Jackson et al 2001, Butchart et al 2010, Hooper et al 2012). There is a growing body of work advocating for systematic conservation planning (e.g. Leslie 2005, Sarkar et al 2006). Reports such as recovery, management or action plans have become key documents providing the frameworks for structured decision making and a guide for future conservation and management efforts (Boersma et al 2001). Species-based management plans can be powerful conservation tools because they can provide a structured, prioritised and organised framework to ensure consistency in decisions, assignment of responsibilities and avoidance of uncertainty, whilst acting to influence political and public pressure (Hoekstra et al 2002). Key issues of concern are Publisher: Inter-Research · www.int-res.com

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion