ICCB 2013 Program - Society for Conservation Biology

Wednesday, July 24
morning session: 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Symposium: Advancing Science-informed Ocean Management Decisions through Ecosystem
Health Report Cards
Room 301
Wednesday, July 24, 8:00 to 10:00
Organizer(s):
Melanie McField, Healthy Reefs Initiative; Liz Witeman, California Ocean Science Trust; Jason Vasques, Coral Reef Alliance
Ocean resource management often means making hard decisions. And, as conservation actions increasingly include ecosystemlevel
protection goals, these decisions are getting harder. Ecosystem health report cards can be used to present the best-available
scientific information in a way that informs decision-making.
Ecosystem health report cards bridge social and ecological systems and provide a multidisciplinary platform for stakeholders
to build a common vision of ecosystem health and social well-being. They can also serve as a multi-institutional or even
multinational platform for promoting management recommendations based directly on scientific monitoring. Existing tools have
been developed using various approaches from expert judgment to standardized scoring criteria and highlight varying degrees of
success towards effective and durable conservation outcomes.
This session will draw together practitioners to explore the processes by which ecosystem health report cards are produced and
scientific information is provided to managers to catalyze and inform management. Drawing on lessons learned from previous
experiences, participants will identify the process steps, external drivers and communications tools and policy mechanisms that
have contributed credibility and legitimacy to report cards, focusing on the factors that lead to success in informing management
and favoring effective conservation decisions.
08:00 Advancing science-informed ocean management decisions through ecosystem health report cards
Jason Vasques, Coral Reef Alliance
08:15 Advancing science-informed ocean management decisions through ecosystem health report cards
Melanie McField, Healthy Reefs Initiative and Lorenzo Alvarez, Smithsonian Institution
08:30 Developing a Report Card for California’s MPAs California Ocean Science Trust
Liz Whiteman and Tess Freidenburg, California Ocean Science Trust
08:45 Environmental report cards: A tool to integrate monitoring data, engage stakeholders and catalyze actions
William C. Dennison and Heath Kelsey, Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for
Environmental Science
09:00 Habitat-specific reef condition and threats report cards for marine management and conservation in The Bahamas:
a case study using the AGRRA protocols
Judith Lang, Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment; Patricia Kramer, Perigee Environmental Inc.; Kenneth Marks,
Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment; Krista Sherman, Bahamas National Trust; Craig Dahlgren, Perry Institute for
Marine Science; Andrew Bruckner, Living Oceans Foundation; Eleanor Phillips, The Nature Conservancy; Philip Kramer,
The Nature Conservancy; Lester Gittens, Bahamas Department of Marine Resources;
09:15 Developing National Marine Sanctuary Condition Reports
Kathy Broughton, Steve Gittings, NOAA
09:30 Can the Coral Health Index (CHI) support Pacific Ocean reef conservation and management
Stuart Sandin, Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Les Kauffman, Boston University
09:45 Assessing the ‘Outlook’ of the Great Barrier Reef
Kirstin Dobbs and David Wachen, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
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