THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE PROJECT

ONLINE CONSULTATION

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Adaptive management

From: Graham Tucker
Affiliation: Ecological Solutions, UK
Remote Name: faunaand-14.dsl1.easynet.co.uk
Time: 11:38:49 +0100

Comments

Care must be taken with suggesting that “the precautionary principle can often be effectively implemented through an adaptive management approach to conservation and management of biodiversity and biological resources” (Recommendation 11). A key issues to consider here (especially in relation to proposed development projects) is that any potentially significant detrimental impact must be reversible in practice. Project proponents should commit to reversing such detrimental impacts if they should arise, and demonstrate in advance how they would do this through an adaptive management approach. Without such safeguards, adaptive management may be misused by some project proponents as a means of justifying going ahead with projects with uncertain impacts – in other words following a ‘we shall cross that bridge if we come to it’ approach. Further guidance on when adaptive management is an appropriate precautionary principle approach is required.