Adaptive Management

Adaptive management is an iterative process. It allows managers to make decisions in the face of uncertainty, with a focus on learning and adapting.

It involves defining objectives, determining desired conditions, selecting and monitoring indicators and performance standards that reflect these desired conditions, and taking management action when these conditions are not being realized.

ESA develops adaptive management programs for ecosystem restoration, water supply and flood management projects, and parks and open space preserves. Regulatory agencies increasingly require adaptive management plans to meet permitting requirements. ESA uses adaptive management principles to help managers achieve project success and ensure effective long-term stewardship. Our monitoring and adaptive management plans―based on science―balance needs for resource use, habitat protection and restoration, public use, and sustainable management.

Related specialties and services:

• Coastal Zone Management Act
• Community and ecosystem adaptation plans
• Construction monitoring
• Landscape architecture
• Restoration
• Wetland/aquatic resource delineations
• Worker environmental awareness programs (WEAP)