Our three interconnected workstreams
Case studies
Resources
What is Ecosystem-Based Management?
EBM is a holistic and inclusive way to manage marine environments and the competing uses for, demands on, and ways New Zealanders value them.
Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) is all about our connection to our seas.
Each of us has unique uses and varying demands, and EBM balances those requirements to ensure our seas still thrive as an integral part of our natural environment.
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, that means a tailored approach. We interweave ecology, te ao Māori, and a blue economy to achieve healthy marine ecosystems, providing intergenerational value and equity for all.
Credit: Keith FoxWhy do we need EBM?
Current marine management focuses on components of the marine environment or on activities in isolation. This has led to:
- increasing degradation of the marine environment
- constraints on uses, services, and opportunities that are generated by a healthy ecosystem.
Transitioning to healthy marine ecosystems that provide value and intergenerational equity involves a more integrated and cooperative approach through EBM. This approach includes having access to effective tools, processes, and arrangements tailored specifically to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Credit: Chris WilliamsThe seven principles of EBM
The Sustainable Seas Challenge offers seven guiding principles for ecosystem-based management so we can understand and guide the concept in Aotearoa New Zealand.
For a different perspective of the principles, click here
Ecosystem-based management research in action
EBM must account for cumulative effects
Successful EBM means understanding and managing the cumulative effects of activities on marine ecosystems. These come from stressors caused by human activities and natural events. Research shows cumulative effects can cause ‘tipping points’ — a sudden loss of ecological health. For more information, including evidence-based tools, guidance, and research. Evidence-based tools, guidance, and research can help the management of cumulative effects.
Addressing risk and uncertainty in EBM
Implementing EBM successfully means assessing the risks to ecological health, including the social, cultural, and economic well-being of marine management action. These assessments can be uncertain, so our research has informed the development of tools and guidance to assist decision-making. These tools can help communicate different types of risk and degrees of uncertainty. They also can account for different worldviews and desired outcomes.
Enabling EBM in marine law and policy
Moving towards EBM in Aotearoa New Zealand requires a more cohesive approach across marine law, policy, and governance. There are opportunities to enable EBM within existing legislative or policy tools that haven’t been fully utilised, new and recent law reforms, and ideas about new policy tools and approaches.
Animation series
The following three animations outline the key issues facing our marine environment and what steps we can take towards improving the health of our marine ecosystems.
EBM resources and links
Explore these resources to deepen your understanding of ecosystem-based management.
Explore more
Our interconnected workstreams support long-term solutions for improving the health of our seas. Explore the other two workstreams as well as how they all come together.
A blue economy
A blue economy refers to the marine activities that generate economic value and contribute positively to ecological, cultural, and social well-being.
Te ao Māori
Te Ao Māori (literally ‘the Māori world’) is a phrase often used to indicate the knowledge, understandings, and practices from the Indigenous culture of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Bringing it all together
The knowledge, guidance, and tools needed to reverse degradation trends and realise a healthy ocean.
Knowledge guiding change.
© Copyright 2024 - Tohorā
© Copyright 2024 - Tohorā
Knowledge guiding change.
