When the first management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area was being developed, an insistent question kept emerging: ‘How would we know if management under the plan was actually achieving its objectives?’ To address this question, the Parks and Wildlife Service set out to develop a practical system for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the management plan. The result was a management evaluation system that integrates monitoring, evaluation and reporting into the overall management cycle for the area. This system is operating successfully in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) and provides informed feedback that enables managers and stakeholders to see how management is progressing in relation to the area’s objectives. This feedback helps guide adaptive management and continuous improvement in management performance, consistent with international environmental management system standards such as ISO 14004. The management evaluation system is simple and flexible, and can be scaled up or down to suit a broad range of management contexts.

Type of Case
Printed publication (book, sourcebook, journal article…)

Publisher
Oxford University Press

Region
Asia Pacific

Biome
All

Forest Type
All forest types (natural and planted)

Primary Designated Function
Conservation of biodiversity, Protection of soil and water