Science, Policy, and the Coast Improving Decisionmaking (1995) / Chapter Skim
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3 Challenges to Effective Use of Science in Making and Implenting Coastal ...
3 Challenges to Effective Use of Science in Making and Implenting Coastal ...
Pages 27-62
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From page 27... ...
Although it is clear that there is no value-free science, every attempt is made by responsible scientists to identify their assumptions and biases and try to minimize the latter. The policymaking process must identify value orientations and then work toward addressing community values (Hammond and Adelman, 1976~.
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From page 28... ...
Political processes are important considerations and are often one of the most uncontrolled and unpredictable variables in science-policy interactions. In the case of mitigation strategies in California, if scientists communicate what strategies are available and their relative costs and benefits, the policymaking process can proceed to identify the human values against which the alternatives and their various costs and benefits may be judged.
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From page 29... ...
The policymaking process can also be viewed as a system of cultural ecology (see Figure 3) , as described by Orbach (1995~: "The cultural ecology of coastal environments has two broad subcomponents: (1)
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From page 30... ...
Scientific community Figure 3 The cultural ecology of coastal public policymaking (Orbach, 1995)
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From page 31... ...
opinion, economics Expectations Understanding never complete Expect clear answers from science Grain Focus on details, contradictions Focus on broad outline World view Primacy of biological, physical, chemical mechanisms Primacy of political, social, interpersonal, economic mechanisms SOURCE: Boesch and Macke, 1995; from Coastal Management, vol.
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From page 32... ...
For example, law school, in contrast to scientific postgraduate programs, emphasizes behavioral change over hypothesis testing (Millsap, 19844. Policymakers may be people who choose to work in a world of human interaction where every new law or policy has the potential to create consensus or conflict.
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From page 33... ...
Public involvement is not a phrase one traditionally hears in the discussions of most scientists in their scientific work, certain social scientists excepted (Peterson, 1984~. However, scientists and the public are interacting with increasing frequency, regarding the conduct of field experiments and the interpretation and application of research results to controversial environmental issues.
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From page 34... ...
Lack of ~ or Misuse of, Each Other's Products-It is often the case that an administrator will not know how to use the contents of a scientific report. It is often the case that a scientist will not understand the genesis or rationale for a particular public policymaking process.
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From page 35... ...
Scientific advice can be obtained through at least four different mechanisms: 1. Internal Advice The first line of scientific advice often available for designing agency programs and forming policy is from scientists who are agency employees or whose services are obtained through contracts.
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From page 36... ...
The committee did not evaluate specific means of improving the use of internal scientific advice, but most mechanisms recommended in the final chapter are applicable to both internal and external sources of advice.
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From page 37... ...
Time constraints As pointed out earlier, by the time managers realize that a policy decision must be made, there is frequently little time remaining in which to investigate the scientific bases for a decision. Under these circumstances, it is very difficult to find scientists whose schedule permits them to respond immediately.
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From page 38... ...
Strong vested interests The agency ostensibly seeking scientific advice may have so strong a vested interest in a certain policy position that it is not receptive to objective scientific advice that questions the bases of that policy position. In reality, the agency's policy position may be shaped by other legal, political, or economic considerations, but the failure to communicate these constraints honestly may lead to frustration and cynicism by the scientific advisers.
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From page 39... ...
The same issue may be evident with scientists employed by businesses or NGOs with an interest in the decisions that will be affected by the scientific advice provided. Finally, it must be realized that academic scientists also have their biases.
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From page 40... ...
These cases must remain rare if scientists are to continue to be viewed as objective observers and analysts (Boesch and Macke, 1995~. Emphasis is on legal aspects and the threat of litigation When there is largescale environmental damage, legal actions seem to dominate and scientific advice is devalued.
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From page 41... ...
The problem was probably one that should have been addressed by social scientists rather than by natural scientists, recognizing the issue as largely political and removing it from the natural scientific agenda altogether. One must conclude that the scientific analysis was misunderstood or ignored.
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From page 42... ...
. MMS Scientific Committee This committee has provided input to MMS's Environmental Studies Program that has helped move scientific efforts in needed directions, has encouraged greater involvement of social scientists, and has involved participation by academic scientists.
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From page 43... ...
In fact, humans are integrated with natural systems in all aspects of the coastal zone, and there are few, if any, coastal environments that are not influenced by human society. As human population has increased in coastal areas, pressures on natural resources have intensified and the number of synergistic effects among different human activities has increased.
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From page 44... ...
Interactions between the social and natural sciences are limited by the small number of social scientists and the infrequency of interdisciplinary research. As a result, human aspects of environmental problems are often not brought into research projects at the design stage and are more likely to be added, if at all, at the end of the research process.
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From page 45... ...
Natural scientists often view humans as intruders in ecosystems, whereas social scientists generally consider an ecosystem as a provider of services to humans. Natural science may focus more on the conservation or preservation of resources.
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From page 46... ...
For example, it is not good enough to know that oxygen has been depleted in a particular coastal ecosystem as a result of nutrient overenrichment; the policymaker needs to know the sources of the nutrients and how much the nutrient inputs should be reduced to achieve a certain improved condition. It is not sufficient to know that certain factors have degraded coastal habitats; the manager needs to know how these habitats can be restored.
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From page 47... ...
| ~ Risk~mangen~nt ~ ~:|~ -- -- -- -- -- -- - Figure 4 A framework for ecological risk assessment (EPA, 1992~. 47 ~ L ~ :1 contaminants and other stressors on marine organisms or ecosystems, as depicted in the framework for ecological risk assessment shown in Figure 4.
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From page 48... ...
Water quality models have evolved from the earlier hydrodynamic-sanitary engineering models to rather sophisticated ecosystem models, particularly when applied to the assessment of nutrient loading and the resulting biogeochemical responses. For example, the Chesapeake Bay water quality model considers three-dimensional hydrodynamics, primary and secondary production, respiration, sedimentation, bioturbation, and nutrient regeneration to predict dissolved oxygen concentrations (Louis Linker, EPA Chesapeake Bay Program, personal communication)
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From page 49... ...
Even in the case of the most sophisticated models (e.g., the Chesapeake Bay water quality model) , considerable uncertainty in the predictions remains simply because coastal ecosystems are complex and incompletely understood and often have nonlinear responses that are difficult to model.
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From page 50... ...
One of the first challenges confronted is determining which of all the problems confronting coastal environments and communities are of the highest priority for study. As scientific methods and understanding have advanced, more questions emerge.
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From page 51... ...
Studies in the North Sea, the northern Adriatic, and some coastal waters of the United States have documented major and large-scale changes in coastal ecosystems and related resources over periods of decades. There is the haunting possibility that changes in the nature of the base of the food chain will alter the abundances of commercially valuable fish and shellfish.
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From page 52... ...
Once priorities are established among the various problem areas, there still remains the challenge of defining the research or monitoring activities that will provide the appropriate scientific knowledge. Because of the complex interactions within coastal ecosystems and between these ecosystems and human society, this is not an easy task.
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From page 53... ...
Nonetheless, our understanding of the effects of human activities on coastal ecosystems and societies has advanced considerably as a result of fundamental research, from advances in measurement capabilities, studies of basic biology and geochemistry, and theoretical studies. Fundamental research efforts organized to pursue a specific theme, such as the Land Margin Ecosystem Research and Coastal Ocean Processes programs funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, are now making major contributions to our understanding of estuaries and continental shelves.
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From page 54... ...
How can it be assured that this science is relevant to scales ranging from regional to local while at the same time avoiding unnecessary duplication of these efforts, which the nation cannot afford? Some national scientific efforts are undertaken to guide national strategies for environmental protection or coastal management.
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From page 55... ...
An important exception to this approach is the Coastal Zone Management Act, which integrates management of resources to some extent. There has been a growing realization nationally and internationally, particularly in the past decade, that such an approach is no longer applicable in many cases.
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From page 56... ...
and on the environment (fisheries habitat) , to find new ways of resolving conflicts in multiple-actor and multiplejurisdiction situations, and to adopt management approaches that are adaptive-that anticipate problems and issues and incorporate "learning" about the natural and socioeconomic environments and the performance of government programs into the management process (see pp.
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From page 57... ...
Examples of national and international NGOs that focus on coastal issues include the American Oceans Campaign, the Center for Marine Conservation, the Environmental Defense Fund, Greenpeace, and the National Coalition for Marine Conservation. The Public Members of the public participate in the decisionmaking process either as members of organized interests (users, NGOs)
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From page 58... ...
A good example concerns nutrient overenrichment and oxygen depletion in the Chesapeake Bay. The media need to be targeted as an important participant in coastal management that needs better access to scientific information, so that it will not sensationalize environmental issues.
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From page 59... ...
INTEGRATED AND ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT As discussed in preceding sections, coastal environmental and resource policies and management approaches have frequently focused on specific activities, resources, or environmental media and thus have failed to adequately reflect the linkages among them. Moreover, environmental and resource policies have, in part because of the failure to take into account this complexity, often not achieved the desired objectives or have had unanticipated outcomes.
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From page 60... ...
Compared to sectoral entities and processes that tend to be concerned only with one use or resource of the coastal environment, a well-functioning integrated coastal management process is expected to perform three important roles: (1) as an area-based (rather than a single-use or single-resource-based)
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From page 61... ...
Adaptive management approaches are suggested when a capacity to cope with uncertainty and complexity is required, as is often the case in the management of natural resource systems. The conventional approach to planning and management requires a level of information "up front" that is not generally available in these cases.
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From page 62... ...
Implications for Science-Policy Interactions Both natural and social sciences must participate significantly in efforts to achieve integrated management-the former in understanding the nature and dynamics of the natural ecosystems in question, and the latter in understanding the socioeconomic factors involved as well as the full array of players, issues, and perspectives that must be reconciled and the range of incentives and tools that can be utilized to achieve such integration. Adaptive management generally requires that scientists participate in the management process on a more intimate and frequent basis than is comfortable and in roles that are nontraditional.
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