Jessica Melbourne-Thomas

3rd International Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Symposium
Cozumel, Mexico, 16-20 October 2006

Background to the Symposium:

The International Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Symposium (ITMEMS) – coordinated by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) – is a forum for productive discussion and information sharing between researchers and managers of coral reefs and related ecosystems. The theme of ITMEMS 3 was ‘Global Problems, Local Solutions', with workshops and plenary sessions designed to ‘develop the capacities of coastal and marine managers to implement programs and projects that support the conservation and sustainable use of coral reefs at the local, national, regional and global levels'.

Background to the Modelling and Decision Support work group:

I attended ITMEMS as a member of the Modelling and Decision Support (MDS) work group of the World Bank's GEF Coral Reef Targeted Research Program. The group was invited to the Symposium by ITMEMS co-chair Richard Kenchington to present three workshops on themes related to the groups' model development.

The MDS group comprises senior scientists and post-graduate students working across 7 countries. The broad remit of the work group is to develop a suite of decision support tools for managers of coral reefs operating at local, regional and global scales. These tools will enable managers and other stakeholders to visualise possible ‘reef futures' under particular management regimes. The general approach of the MDS group is to use ‘complex systems' techniques to develop and integrate models of bio-physical, economic and social components operating at a range of spatial and temporal scales.

Contributions to ITMEMS:

The three workshops presented by the MDS work group at ITMEMS were titled: ‘Problems of Scale for Management'; ‘SIMREEF – Modelling with Managers' and; ‘Impact of the Internet/Web 2 on Management (Data, Analysis, Decision, Communication)'. The three-hour workshops were informal and interactive, and focussed on experience and knowledge exchange in support of the formulation and implementation of management strategies and plans.

Outcomes:

The MDS group were specifically interested in exploring how modellers can help managers of coral reefs and vice versa. Particular inputs we were seeking from managers included: contribution to our model representations of biophysical and socioeconomic components; advice on appropriate spatio-temporal scales for modelling; and developing useful, interpretable model outputs. Our workshops were very productive in these respects, and many of the outcomes from ITMEMS were discussed and developed further at the MDS work group meeting held in Akumal, Mexico, from 22 – 26 October.

The symposium in Cozumel was an excellent opportunity for group members (myself in particular as a new member) to network, meet and discuss with a very broad range of researchers and managers in the coral reef field.

Authorised by the Executive Director, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
February 8, 2011