Upcoming EBM Tools Network Training Opportunities
Marine Protected Area and Ecosystem-Based Management Tools Knowledge Café
Venue: International Marine Conservation Congress in Fairfax, Virginia
Date: May 19,2009
Time: 1-5 pm
Location: The Bistro, George Mason University
Sponsors: Conservation International and the EBM Tools Network
A wealth of tools exist to assist marine protected area managers and other marine resource managers in addressing the various issues they are tackling, including resilience to climate change, economic incentives, ecosystem-based management and networks of protected areas. Yet accessing this information has been a challenge as institutions and initiatives are dispersed worldwide. The Knowledge Cafe will provide an opportunity to access critical tools for MPAs and EBM. Tool providers will be available to explain their tool to participants, provide demonstrations of the tools, and discuss tool relevance to attendees’ projects with them. Tools being demonstrated include guidebooks, software, websites, models, and integrated tool kits.
Download the Brochure for this Event
Tools being demonstrated:
Coastal Transects Analysis Model (CTAM) (Ratana Chuenpagdee and Ian Ivany, Coastal Development Centre, International Coastal Network) CTAM helps visualize and analyze interactions and flows between natural and human systems, with current emphasis on fisheries and aquatic resources, using information provided by users, literature, and expert judgment. Learn more at www.coastaltransects.org.
Consvalmap.org (Giselle SamonteTan, Conservation International) This interactive website provides an easy-to-use reference to all the economic valuation statistics of tropical marine resources worldwide. Learn more at www.consvalmap.org.
EBM Tools Network Website (ebmtools.org) and Database (Sarah Carr, EBM Tools Network) The EBM Tools Network is a voluntary, international alliance to promote the awareness, development, and effective use of tools and methods for EBM of coastal and marine environments and their watersheds. At this table, we will provide an overview of the range of available EBM tools and the EBM Tools Database. Learn more at ebmtools.org.
Guidebook to Incentive-based Conservation Approaches and Marine Management Areas (Heidi Gjertsen and Eduard Niesten, Conservation International) Heidi and Eduard will share their lessons-learned analysis of a global set of case studies of buy-outs, conservation incentive agreements, and alternative livelihoods projects. They will be available to discuss the applications to your situation and what key issues to consider as you plan your incentive-based conservation strategy.
Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) for business (Conrad Savy, Conservation International) IBAT for business is the first output of a shared vision between BirdLife International, UNEP-WCMC and CI, with IUCN acting as an observer. IBAT integrates critical conservation data via web-based tools to facilitate fine-scale biodiversity risk assessment by public and private sector decision-makers. Learn more about the application of this tool to marine-related development planning. Learn more at www.ibatforbusiness.org.
Marine Geospatial Ecology Tools (MGET) (Jason Roberts and Daniel Dunn, Duke University Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab) MGET is a free collection of ArcGIS tools that facilitate the inclusion of ecological and oceanographic data and analyses in MPA planning processes. MGET includes tools for acquiring and manipulating biological and remotely-sensed oceanographic data, building habitat models from field observations of important species, and modeling hydrodynamic connectivity of coral reefs. Learn more at http://code.env.duke.edu/projects/mget.
MarineMap Decision Support Tool (Will McClintock, University of California at Santa Barbara) MarineMap is a free tool that helps stakeholders visualize geospatial data layers, draw prospective MPA boundaries, share prospective MPA boundaries with other users, and generate graphs and statistics to evaluate MPAs on science-based guidelines. Learn more at http://marinemap.org/marinemap.
Marine Integrated Decision Analysis System (MIDAS) (Suchi Gopal, Boston University) MIDAS offers managers and other users of MMAs (marine managed areas) around the world the capability to analyze outcomes that result from the interaction of governance, socioeconomic and ecological factors. The users can input information relevant to their MMAs and quickly visualize the outcomes, including a map of the spatial distribution of risk.
Marine Reserve and Local Fisheries Interactive Simulation (Dan Brumbaugh, American Museum of Natural History) This simulation-based education tool allows users to experiment with the use of marine reserves as tools in fisheries management and to explore various biological and economic factors that influence population viability and fisheries sustainability. It focuses on key Caribbean fisheries species, their habitat preferences, the distribution of these habitats across the seascape, economic costs and proceeds from small-scale fisheries, and simple models of fishing behavior. Learn more at http://ncep.amnh.org/marine_simulation.
MPA EZ – the CCIF MPA Financial Management Tool (Sarah Conway and John Claussen, Conservation and Community Investment Forum) MPA EZ is a free web-and Excel-based tool that provides an overview of an MPA’s current financial situation and helps ensure that resource allocation is in-line with management objectives, financial and physical resources are used efficiently, and financing portfolios are sustainable. Learn more at http://ccif.digitalclouds.net/costmodel/authentication/login.
Open OceanMap (Charles Steinback, Ecotrust) Open OceanMap is a data collection tool used to collect local expert knowledge in support of marine spatial planning. Open OceanMap allows the user to collect and compile ecological and economic data through an intuitive 100-pennies stakeholder interview process. The tool provides interviewees with a web-based interface to review and verify information and aggregates data to ensure confidentiality. Learn more at www.ecotrust.org/ocean/OpenOceanMap.html.
ProtectPlanetOcean.org (Leah Bunce Karrer, Conservation International) This interactive website provides easy access to a wealth of information on MPAs, including a virtual library of marine resource tools ranging from guidebooks to software models to video clips. Learn more at www.protectplanetocean.org.
Practitioner’s Toolkit and Field Guide for Marine Conservation Agreements (Jay Udelhoven, The Nature Conservancy) Marine Conservation Agreements (MCAs) are increasingly being used by NGOs around the world to complement traditional efforts (such as MPAs, area-wide laws and fisheries management) to protect, manage and improve marine biodiversity and ecosystem services. MCAs include any formal or informal understanding between two or more parties in which the parties obligate themselves, for an exchange of benefits, to take certain actions, refrain from certain actions, or transfer certain rights and responsibilities to achieve agreed upon ocean or coastal conservation goals. To help field practitioners understand what MCAs are, determine if MCAs can help them meet their conservation goals, and plan in-water MCA projects, The Nature Conservancy and partners have developed an on-line toolkit and field guide for MCAs. The toolkit and field guide provide information on the basics of MCAs, phases for evaluating and implementing MCAs, country analyses, case studies and resources. Learn more at www.mcatoolkit.org.
Reef Resilience Toolkit (Stephanie Wear, The Nature Conservancy) Developed for coral reef managers, the toolkit provides guidance on how to integrate and build the principles of resilience to climate change into the design of MPAs and daily management activities. The toolkit includes guidance on management strategies such as conserving fish spawning aggregations, MPA network design, and developing coral reef monitoring programs. During the Café, we will review what is available within this new toolkit and share plans for advancing this work via training and practitioners networks. Learn more at www.reefresilience.org.
Social Network Mapping and Analysis for EBM and Conservation Planning (Ken Vance-Borland, Conservation Planning Institute) Many of the insights we get when we reflect on our conservation actions have to do with relationships—who shares information with whom and which individuals are working together. Network maps enable us to track these relationships and then work to improve information flow, innovation diffusion, and collaborative activities by improving the connectivity of individuals in the conservation network. Learn more at www.networkweaving.com/june.html.
For additional information about the Cafe, please contact Leah Bunce Karrer (l.karrer at conservation dot org) or Sarah Carr (sarah_carr at natureserve dot org).