Environmental
Management
Strategy &
Approaches
ESd:4205-Environmental
Management and Conservation II
Toe Lwin Shein 2H-ES-2
Min Swan Pyae 2H-ES-3
Content
01 Introduction EM Focus and Stance 02
03 Participatory EM AEM and AEAM 04
05 Integrated EM Political Ecology Approach 06
Content
Political Economy Human Ecology
07 Approach Approach 08
09 The Best Approach?
INTRODUCTION
Environmental Management (EM)
involves objective scientific and more
subjective;qualitative approaches.
It blends policy making,planning and
management, but there is no single
widely adopted framework.
EM Focus and Stance
Historical Context Modern Environmental Planning
● Lack of environmental advisers in ● Environmental planning as
major organizations pre-1970s. balancing resource use and
● The past viewed environmental environmental protection.
quality as optional. ● Importance of recognizing
● Historical neglect of Earth's dynamic processes and
environmental issues in planning. natural limits.
Interdisciplinary Nature
Overlap with Other Fields
● Landscape Planning
○ Focusing on aesthetic and visual aspects of the environment.
● Regional Planning
○ Involves broader geographical areas and strategic development.
● Impact Assessment
○ Evaluates potential environmental consequences of proposed
projects or policies.
The Netherlands' National Environmental Policy Plan (NEPP 1989)
● A pioneering effort to develop an integrated environmental policy.
● Contrasts with the incrementalist approach typical of other countries.
● Focuses on sustainable development and the 'polluter-pays' principle.
● Influenced other governments to adopt similar approaches.
Multidisciplinary Approach
● Need for Multiple Perspectives
■ Social Perspectives: Impact on
communities and social structures.
■ Economic Perspectives: Cost, benefits,
and economic feasibility.
■ Environmental Perspectives:
Long-term sustainability and
ecosystem health.
● Challenges with Functional Grouping
○ Agencies often focus on specific areas (e.g.,
pollution control, conservation).
○ This specialization can hinder holistic,
multidisciplinary approaches.
● Examples of Functional Grouping
○ Pollution control agencies focusing solely on
pollution without considering broader
environmental or social impacts.
Components and Stances
of EM
Components of Environmental Management
● Advisory:
○ Advice,Leaflets, Phone Help-line
○ Media Information
○ Education
○ Demonstration Projects
● Economic:
○ Taxes
○ Grants, Loans, Aid
○ Subsidies
○ Quotas
● Regulatory/Control:
○ Standards
○ Restrictions
○ Licensing
Components and Stances
of EM
Stances of Environmental Management
● Preventive Management
○ Aims to preclude adverse
environmental impacts before they
occur.
● Reactive or Punitive Management
○ Deals with limiting or controlling
damage after it has occurred.
● Compensatory Management
○ Mitigates adverse impacts through
trade-offs.
○ Protecting certain habitats while
allowing development in other areas.
Participatory
EM
Citizen Involvement:
● Increasingly common in recent
years.
● Participation is crucial for altering
human attitudes and resolving
environmental problems.
Participatory Approaches:
● Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
● Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)
Adaptive Environmental Management (AEM) and
Adaptive Environmental Assessment and
Management (AEAM)
Adaptive
Environmental
Management (AEM)
● Flexibility and Adaptability:
○ Strategies quickly modified to suit
specific situations.
○ Continuous learning process
integrating scientific, local, and social
knowledge.
● Scenario Exploration:
○ Utilizes modeling to explore "what
if?" scenarios.
○ Adapts policies based on monitoring
and feedback.
● Applications:
○ Effective in rangeland management,
conservation areas, and pollution
control (Great Lakes, Baltic,
Chesapeake Bay).
Origins and Development:
● Developed by Canadian specialists in
Adaptive
the 1970s.
● Integrates economic, social,
environmental issues with diverse
Environmental stakeholders.
Strategies for Uncertainty:
Assessment and ● Uses hedging to avoid worst
consequences.
Management ● Uses flexing to continue searching for
options post-decision.
(AEAM) Challenges and Criticisms:
● Identified flaws in decision-making
processes (McLain and Lee, 1996).
● Risk of ignoring non-scientific
knowledge.
Integrated Environmental Management (IEM)
Traditional Issues:
● Reactive, narrow, piecemeal, and poorly
coordinated management.
IEM Objectives:
● Integrate environmental concerns into
proactive development planning.
● Guide development without hindrance.
● Address environmental problems that
cross political and natural boundaries.
Key Elements
Coordination and Control Comprehensive Approach
Balance human activities Formulate and implement
within a defined actions considering social,
environmental system. political, economic, and
institutional factors.
Strategic
Inclusive
Process
Address interconnected Use an interactive process
environmental and human to identify key elements and
issues. goals
Political Ecology
Approach
● Its origins in the 1950s.
● Defined as the application of ecology to politics and
study of political competition for control of natural
resources.
● Brings together cultural ecology and political
economy
● Implies an interest in cause-effect relations, study of
the different interest groups involved in using the
environment, of their economy and livelihoods.
Political Economy
Approach
● Examination of how the economic system relate to the
control and use of resources and nature.
● To deal effectively with environmental management
demands an awareness of political economy
● It may require people far removed to pay and alter
attitudes so that environmental management may be
supported.
Human Ecology
Approach
● The Study of relations between humans or society and
nature through a multidisciplinary approach.
The Best
Approach?
● There is no such thing as the best approach.
Thank You
