A Management Plan is a document which acts as a guideline for planning and use of land, from the present, to the foreseeable future. When a Development Application goes to a determining authority, such as a local council, inclusion of such a plan indicates both a thorough assessment of the proposal and its environmental impact, and also your understanding of the council's intent for management of the land as expressed in the zoning of the area.

The process consists of:

1) surveys of environmental issues, such as soil, water, and air quality, flora and fauna, traffic and waste disposal.

2) clear definition of the constraints to development presented by the site;

3) designing the proposal to take site constraints into account;

4) creation of a Management Plan to guide both the construction phase of development, and ongoing management.

A Management Plan contains a number of sections, which are: description of the existing situation; description of the desired outcome; objectives of the plan; strategies for implementing those objectives; means of monitoring the outcomes; and plans to overcome impediments which may have potential to prevent your objectives being met.

The Objectives of a Management Plan may extend to some or all of the following, depending on the circumstances of a particular piece of land:

1) protection and preservation of scenic and natural features;

2) conservation of wildlife and natural biodiversity;

3) maintenance of natural processes as far as is possible;

4) preservation of Aboriginal sites and historic features;

5) encouragement of scientific and educational enquiries;

6) application of the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD)

Strategies in a Management Plan may include zoning by council to allow or prevent certain types of activity or use, covenants imposed by the developer, prescribed engineering and construction methods, technology for effluent management, means to control weeds, domestic animals, and feral pests.

Management implies stewardship, that is the looking after of something, whether it is a tract of land, a swamp, or an individual species. Management may be either manipulative or custodial. Manipulative management does something to its subject, for example changing the population of fauna species by providing more food and shelter for it, and removing predators and other threats. This is appropriate when a development will have the effect of changing an area, and ameliorative measures are required to overcome the impact on, for example, a threatened species.

Custodial management on the other hand is preventative or protective. It is aimed at minimising external influences on the area. It is not aimed necessarily at stabilising the system but at allowing free rein to the ecological processes that determine the dynamics of the system. Such management may be appropriate in a fauna refuge where one of the stated goals is to protect ecological processes, and it may be appropriate for conservation of a threatened species where the threat is of external origin rather than being intrinsic to the system.

Goals of management

A wildlife population may be managed in one of four ways:

1) make it increase;

2) make it decrease;

3) harvest it for a continuing yield;

4) leave it alone but keep an eye on it.

These are the only options available to the manager. One of these will be the outcome of a given property development. Thus three decisions are needed:

1) what is the desired goal;

2) which management option is therefore appropriate; and

3) by what action is the management option best achieved?

The first decision requires a judgement of value, the others technical judgements, which may require further research as a basis for making those judgements. At the end of the process a definition of both success and failure is required. A statement of specific outcomes in a given time frame must be provided by which the management plan can be judged.

Management planning (or simply planning) is the manipulation of a known means to a selected end. Planning should be a continuous process in which evaluation provides feedback, encouraging the modification of goals, objectives, policies, actions or any other decisions and supporting information base. Although the character of plans vary with every application the concepts are always the same:

1) It is a participator exercise.

2) It is about communications at all levels.

3) All planning is concerned with the future:

~ it examines future courses of action;

~ it examines the evolving chains of causes and affects likely to result from current decisions.

4) It provides managers a vision of the organisation in the future

5) Planning involves assessing the future and making provisions for it.

6) Planning is a process that begins with achievable objectives, defining strategies, policies, and actions to achieve them and which includes a review.

7) Planning is a continuous process

8) Good planning is resource dependent - you work with what you have.

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PLANNING CONCEPTS

Before developing a management plan it is necessary to develop an understanding of the concepts and language of a management plan.

Plans can be broken down into goals and objectives. Goals are general in their nature and objectives are more specific. Goals and objectives represent and end point, they are achieved through a means. The means of goals are called policies and for objectives, they are referred to as actions (see Table 1).

	Ends	Means
General	GOALS	POLICIES
Specific	OBJECTIVES	ACTIONS (PRACTICES)

Table 1: Classification of planning terms

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Goals

Goals (or aims) are statements of ends (or sometimes intentions) and are general in nature. They are often phrased in such a way that they are near unattainable. However they do serve a purpose. Goals establish management values, philosophy and direction. Goals represent direction whilst allowing for negotiation in the face of specific circumstances.

Goals are expressed in such a way that a manager does not know when they are achieved or how he/she is progressing. Goals are signposts with no distances on them.

NB: It is not the function of the manager to solely determine the goals, he/she should have no more influence on the goal decision then any other interested person. However, through professional knowledge, managers have the ability to decide which management options are feasible and how the goals can be best attained. It is the purpose of the environmental manager to make technical judgements, not value judgements and to make and carry out these judgements.

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Objectives

Objectives are more precise and specific than goals. They are statements of the conditions that planners seek to attain or maintain. Objectives must always be attainable, they are expressed in such a way that progress towards, or away from them can be easily measured.

Objectives represent a means for the manager to control the direction of management to ensure effectiveness and efficiency. Measurable objectives are essential for evaluation. The manager needs to specify the criteria (or standards) to be measured in assessing the pursuits of objectives.

Policies

Policies are general statements of means. They are not specific, being more like goals than objectives, however they are more like actions (or practices) than either goals or objectives. Policies describe what will be done to achieve objectives. They provide a more general link between specific ends (objectives) and specific means (actions). Statements of policies are sufficiently general to be applied to all management situations.

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Actions

Actions are the most specific statements of means used in the planning process. They are statements of what will be done, when and where, and who will be responsible for doing it.

Options

Options are alternative combinations of ends and/or means where there are genuine choices to be made. For an option to be "genuine" it must have a possibility of being acted on if they are identified as the preferred option. The creation or consideration of alternatives can broaden a managers appreciation of the available objectives and provide new ideas that might not otherwise have been though of. Options can facilitate communication with a wider range of potential interest groups.

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Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring is the routine collection of data about physical and administrative conditions of the management area (Lipscombe 1987). Evaluation is the use and assessment of that data to provide information about changes in conditions, and the achievement of specified objectives in particular. Monitoring is essential but not sufficient for evaluation. Evaluations requires the use of data by managers to measure their performance, not just their collection. Monitoring without evaluation is a waste of time and effort: planning without evaluation is only marginally better.

Evaluation is the measurement of the success of management policies and actions in achieving stated goals and objectives, and it provides the feedback necessary to adjust ends and means to changing circumstances.

Implementation

Implementation of management planning is management. It is all the skills and functions the manager can bring to bear on getting a predetermined job done in a predetermined way.

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THE PROCESS OF MANAGEMENT PLANNING

The process outlining an orderly approach to the production of a management plan is depicted in Figures 1 and 2. These diagrams show how each step in the process is linked with the others.

THE PROCESS OF MANAGEMENT PLANNING
Stakeholder Participation -	1. Proposal To Plan
Stakeholder Participation -	2. Data Collection
	3. Data Analysis
	4. Formulation Of Goals, Objectives and Policies
	5. Draft Plan
Stakeholder Participation -	6. Review Of Plan
	7. Finalisation Of Draft Plan
	8. Submission Of Plan
	9. Review

Figure 1: The Process of Management Planning Flow Diagram

THE MANAGEMENT PLANNING PROCESS
Seven Steps

1.	Problem Identification and Definition
2.	Specification of Objectives
3.	Identification of Options (Combination of Ends and Means)
4.	Establishing Decision Criteria
5.	Decision Making
6.	Implementation
7.	Evaluation

Figure 2: Steps in the Management Planning Process

Each stage of planning begins with a question. The starting point of the whole exercise must be the question, "Why produce a plan? What is to be achieved by the management plan?"

Stage 1: Definition of the Objectives

The first stage answers the question "Why produce a plan?". What ever the objectives, they must be as clear as possible, unambiguous and precise. Precise objectives allow the early identification of possible conflicts and describe priorities early in the planning process.

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Stage 2: Establishing a Factual Base for Decision Making

At all points through the planning process, decisions should be based on full and correct information. It is wise only to collect information that will help decision making. This is done by gathering data that is related to, or stems from the objectives, or using it to generate (or evaluate) ways in which the objectives may be achieved.

Stage 3: Identifying the ways in which the Objectives could be Achieved: "Plan Generation"

This stage involves the answering of the questions:

a) In what ways might the objectives be achieved?

b) What possible (i.e. technically feasible, politically and financially acceptable, etc.) options exist?

c) What combination of options fit together to form coherent plans.

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Stage 4: How to choose the "Best Plan": Evaluating the Options

In this stage the questions asked are:

a) Which option represents the best "value for money"?

b) Which is the "best" plan?

The answering of these questions depends on the following question:

a) What criterion is going to be used to evaluate the options?

The criteria are:

a) Which alternative meets the objectives best?

b) Will the alternative work?

c) Is each scheme financially feasible?

d) Are all the options equally politically acceptable?

e) Who wins and who loses?
There may be social advantages and disadvantages to any plan. It is important to analyse which groups of society benefit from the scheme and which suffer disadvantages.

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Stage 5: Putting flesh onto the Framework of the Plan: Preparing the detailed Proposal

Once the preferred options have been identified, the next questions to be answered are:

a) What does this particular scheme mean in detailed proposals?

b) What is actually to be done?

Stage 6: Implementation

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Stage 7: Ongoing Management and Monitoring

This stage consists of three operations:

1) Carrying out developments

2) Ongoing management

3) Monitoring

This involves the recording of information and management of the managed area over time. It is of 3 types:

i. A record should be kept of what management operations have been undertaken each year.

ii. Records should be made to check that the objectives of the management plan are being achieved.

iii. Recording any external changes that my lead to changes in the policies of the owner or manager.

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Stage 8: Review of the Plan

There are three reasons for reviewing the plan over regular periods:

1. To review its progress and to establish whether or not it is being implemented. If the monitoring reveals the plan is not being put into practice, or if progress is slow, then the causes of this must be established and remedied.

2. To determine whether the means of implementation are still appropriate. This will show whether or not it is having the desired end result. If not, or external factors change, it may be necessary to review and change the methods of implementation.

3. To review the fundamental policies embodied in the plan. Changes in any of the external factors that influence the plan may lead to modification or reassessment of the basic policies.

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Stage 9: Stakeholder Participation

Participation by stakeholders is an important part of the planning process. It is important to know public attitudes to proposals, as consent and co-operation from interest groups facilitates management and increases the status of the plan. The questions that are to be answered at this stage are:

1) Whose views should be sought?

~ Special efforts should be made to contact organised groups e.g. by a questionnaire survey, presentation of exhibitions, etc.

~ The sources of all comments on the plan must be recorded so that the views of the different sections of the community are recorded.

2) What decisions can interest groups participate in, or at what stages should they be consulted?

~ Stage 1 - definition of the Objectives for the property

Organised groups may be able to contribute more informed and coherent comment. It must be remembered that they only represent a small portion of the population and should not necessarily take precedent over the general public

~ Stage 4 - Evaluation of Options

This is a crucial stage in which stakeholder participation can provide valuable input. It is easier for the stakeholders to understand the significance of the proposals and therefore they are more able to provide a definite and clear response.

~ Participation in management

3) In what form should the material for consultation be presented to the stakeholders? Possible options, and associated pitfalls include:

~ Questionnaires these can be self administered, often only returned by the conscientious who give answers they feel that you wish to hear. Or run through an interviewer which can provide more useful results

~ Formal enquiries are often daunting and often loaded by those with an “axe to grind”.

~ Public meetings are most useful if they are carefully ordered so as to simply seek the answers to particular questions without lapsing into debate. When public meetings fail they can in fact become divisive and make the resolution of problems more difficult.

~ Meetings of interested groups. Much the same as public meetings, although they may tend to be biased as many people do not join groups and as such go unrepresented.

~ The distribution of a document or document inviting public consideration. Although valuable this activity tends to be expensive.

~ Talking to the public in friendly manner. This technique can take time to yield unbiased results as many people need time to respond in a well considered way. This technique is also limited by the skill of the questioner.

4) How should the stakeholder views be taken account of in the decision making process?

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STRUCTURE OF THE PLAN

Once the contents of the management plan are finalised it should be presented as below:

1) Statement of policy and context, and the functions and objectives of the area to be managed - this section would also state why the particular objectives were selected

2) Statement of the resources available to meet the objectives - this would include a brief description of the physical nature of the area and the opportunities afforded by it. It should also note the constraints within which the plan was prepared. These constraints may be physical or assumptions concerning the availability of financial or work-force resources.

3) Statement of the general policies and their justification. This section should show:

~ Why the general policies were adopted and how each policy achieves all or part of the objectives,

~ Evidence to support these particular policies, indicating how and why these policies are appropriate to achieve the objectives.

4) Statement of the detailed proposals for the management area. This can be broken down into two broad sections:

~ The management of the physical resources of the area

~ Proposals for the mechanisms of implementation, including administration, organisation and special arrangements such financing and the phasing of operations.

5) Monitoring and Review - This must include proposals, resources and arrangements for monitoring, including what material will be recorded and what information will be collected. Most importantly, there must be a statement of how the information will be used to monitor the progress of the plan

The plan must also state how, when and under what circumstances the plan will be received.

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REFERENCES

Caughley, G. and Sinclair, A.R.E. (1994). Wildlife Ecology and Management. Blackwell Science, Cambridge USA.

Lipscombe, N.R. (1987). Park Management Planning: A guide to the writing of management plans. Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education, Australia.

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