Ecosystems Based Management: Markers for Assessing Progress

Transboundary management is complex and must span long time periods. It is therefore important to clearly define how success will be achieved and how progress will be assessed. Simplified methods are needed that offer an overview of the status of a given programme at a given time and can trace progress by a consistent set of indicators. This paper presents a framework for a sequence of indicators that can be used to mark the advance to more sustainable forms of development at the ecosystem level. This framework identifies the critical outcomes associated with a sequence of accomplishments associated with planning, implementation of a plan of action and the achievement of goals that can be used to gauge progress on that path. The progress markers presented in this paper facilitate the documentation and analysis of a given programme or portfolio of programmes along a continuum with programme initiation at one end and fulfilment of programme goals at the other.