Key issues and drivers affecting coastal and marine resource decisions: Participatory management strategy evaluation to support adaptive management

The management of coastal and marine resources is a collective decision-making process involving a sequence of events, from generating information about the status of the resource, to problem recognition, and identifying suitable responses to problems. It usually involves multiple individuals with varying perceptions and influences. Adaptive management (or learning by doing) has been proposed as a framework for collective decision-making in natural resource management (NRM). It requires generating information—through effective monitoring systems—for comparing objectives with actual outcomes of management. Management strategy evaluation (MSE) models the adaptive management process to evaluate the trade-offs and uncertainties of different adaptive strategies. In this paper, we review the literature to understand the attributes of decision processes about NRM in coasts and oceans, and use the key learnings from this review combined with knowledge from past MSE applications to consider how MSE can address these attributes. The review identifies the following key categories of attributes affecting NRM decisions: (1) governance structures, (2) power and leadership, (3) psychological dimensions, and (4) cognitive issues. We find that MSE is effective in dealing with these decision process attributes as it helps understand how actors interact and respond to problems, which includes how they deal with pressures and shortfalls in knowledge and support for their actions. By addressing decision-making at both individual and group levels, MSE supports stakeholder engagement. This may also facilitate social learning and development of a shared understanding of the challenges of NRM in coasts and oceans.