IV. Adaptive Management (Walters 1986)—This theory comes out of conservation biology. It was
developed as a way of addressing a constantly changing ecological context in management of natural
resources (specifically wildlife, but also other natural resources like water). The approach is in response
to the conventional approach to management of natural resources that places natural resources
management entirely in the disciplinary realm of natural scientists, to the exclusion of other academic
disciplines. The conventional approach would attempt to achieve a smooth running ecosystem through
excluding humans from the system. Adaptive management recognizes humans as part of the ecosystem
and argues for a management strategy that involves consideration of social and economic factors.
Adaptive management is rooted in four basic issues: 1) management of natural resources in terms of
objectives and social constraints on action; 2) management based on explicit models of dynamic behavior
that may change over time; 3) constant monitoring to assess whether actions and models are moving the
community toward the objectives; 4) integrating human productivity/development with management of
natural resources.