Why do we need to monitor and report on management performance?
Monitoring and reporting on management performance for Tasmania's national parks and reserves is necessary to:
- provide public transparency and accountability for management; and
- provide factual feedback about performance to guide adaptive management to improve or optimize the achievement of objectives.
The Monitoring and Reporting System for Tasmania’s National Parks and Reserves
PWS is finalising a statewide
Monitoring and Reporting System to measure evidence of management progress, achievements and challenges across Tasmania's National Parks and Reserves. Key features of the Monitoring and Reporting System are that it is outcomes focused, evidence-based, operationally practical, and transparent to stakeholders. Following finalisation and approval, it is anticipated the system will operate on this website.
One component of the system is case study evaluations of significant projects. Selected projects are monitored and evaluated to determine their effectiveness in achieving the project objectives. Examples of evaluated case study reports include:
Our Adaptive Management Approach
PWS’s adaptive management cycle (see figure) provides an integrated, evidence-based approach to achieving objectives and delivering long-term desired outcomes.
The adaptive management cycle is simple and flexible, and can be scaled up or down in complexity to suit a broad range of management contexts and purposes, e.g. projects, management plans, strategies.
For a brief article describing PWS’s adaptive management approach see the article titled Is the management plan achieving its objectives? For a detailed 30 year retrospective of the development of the adaptive management system for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, see the book chapter The adaptive management system for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area – linking management planning with effectiveness evaluation.
Effectiveness Evaluation for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area
PWS’s first comprehensive evaluation of management effectiveness for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area is published in the report titled State of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area 2004 - an evaluation of management effectiveness Report No 1 2004. This report provides detailed evidence of management effectiveness against the statements of 'key desired outcomes' in the statutory management plan for the area. The report establishes a sound reference platform of information and evidence against which future management progress for the Area can be compared. This report was awarded the Australasian Evaluation Society's Caulley Tulloch Award for best publication in evaluation.
Integrating Evaluation into Reserve Management Plans
PWS is progressively working to integrate effectiveness monitoring and evaluation into reserve management planning to establish best-practice adaptive management processes. Early development of these approaches is evident in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Management Plan 1999. This plan, which covers an area of approximately 1.4 million hectares or 20% of the state, won the Australian Government's National Award for Planning Excellence in 2003.
PWS has recently commenced articulating in plans what would be considered a "great result", an "acceptable result" and "unacceptable result" in relation to desired outcomes. For example, see Chapter 7, page 53 and Appendix 1 of the Coningham Nature Recreation Area Draft Management Statement 2009.
For more information on performance measurement, contact Glenys Jones (Planner, Performance Evaluation and Reporting), email: glenys.jones@parks.tas.gov.au