Needs Assessments

EBM Tools and Tools Training Needs Assessment
Results of a survey on what ecosystem-based management (EBM) practitioners need in terms of tools and capacity-building were released in September 2007. The Web and phone survey was prepared by Intelligent Marine Planning and the EBM Tools Network. Respondents shared their views on what they consider as the most severe problems for implementing EBM; the most critical needs for planning and implementing EBM; the importance of increasing awareness of EBM tools; and other data. Download The Tools Training Needs Assessment document.

Gulf of Maine EBM Toolkit Survey Report
The Gulf of Maine EBM Toolkit Survey was conducted in 2007 to help determine the types of tools and information needed to put EBM into practice. The survey included 55 people involved in ocean and coastal management in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and U.S. and Canadian federal waters. The report provides region-specific information on management issues to which practitioners seek to apply EBM, critical obstacles to implementing EBM, and tools and information needed to put EBM into practice. Learn more.

NCEAS 2008 Assessment of Information Needs for Ecosystem-Based Management of Coastal Marine Systems
In 2008, the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) conducted a survey of EBM practitioners. The survey was designed to address two primary questions: 1) What types of information might fill gaps or needs in the practice of ecosystem-based management? 2) What might be the most useful ways to share this information with practitioners? There were 47 respondents from seven geographic regions: western Caribbean, Galapagos/eastern tropical Pacific, Philippines, Gulf of California, Great Barrier Reef, Gulf of Maine, andsix locations along the West Coast of the United States. Learn more.

NOAA Coastal Services Center Coastal EBM Needs Assessment
NOAA Coastal Services Center released a Coastal EBM Needs Assessment in February 2008. The assessment looks at results from about 250 respondents regarding their EBM knowledge, attitudes, use, obstacles, and data, tools, and training needs. Learn more.

Tools for Coastal-Marine Ecosystem-Based Management: A Survey and Evaluation Of Utility, Sustainability, and Opportunities for Further Development
In 2004, NatureServe conducted a survey for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation of available tools to assess their range and capabilities that could be useful for coastal marine ecosystem-based management. The primary objectives for this study were to: 1) develop a hierarchical framework describing the functions of software tools needed to conduct coastal-marine ecosystem-based management (CMEBM); 2) survey existing tools that may support CMEBM and annotate a subset that appears particularly relevant and promising; and 3) conduct workshops of scientists, CMEBM planners and managers, and software developers to evaluate NatureServe's study and make recommendations to the Packard Foundation for funding priorities and strategies for supporting software tools. Download the Tools for Coastal-Marine Ecosystem-Based Management document.