10.2 Introduction

10.2.1 The State of the Environment Report

State of environment reporting is a requirement of the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment Act 1993, with the Office of the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment (OCSE) undertaking a State of the Environment Report every four years since 1994–95.

As part of the reporting for 2015, the OCSE decided to assess the effectiveness of its management arrangements to protect the values that underpin the environment of the ACT. Andrea Leverington and Marc Hockings were commissioned to provide this independent report.

10.2.2 Management effectiveness

Management effectiveness evaluation was developed to assess management of protected areas. It is defined as the assessment of how well a protected area is being managed – primarily the extent to which it is protecting values and achieving goals and objectives. The IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas has developed a framework for assessing management effectiveness,³ which has been widely applied around the world to develop specific assessment systems designed to meet the need to evaluate management effectiveness in different circumstances.

In this report, the approach to assessing management effectiveness of protected areas has been adapted to examine the effectiveness of management of aspects of the environment as a part of this State of the Environment Report. This work was based on the management effectiveness program undertaken for the Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2009¹ and subsequently applied in the Australia State of the Environment 2011 report.² The management effectiveness for this ACT State of the Environment Report was developed using this framework and assessed all six elements of effective management.

Good management needs to be founded on a thorough understanding of the individual conditions related to management of an aspect of the environment, be carefully planned and implemented, and include regular monitoring, leading to changes in management as required. The management cycle identifies six important elements in this process that should, ideally, all be assessed if effectiveness of management is to be fully understood (Figure 10.1).

Figure 10.1 The framework for assessing management effectiveness that has been applied to state of the environment reporting for the ACT

Effective management:

• begins with understanding the context of the topic, including its values, the threats it faces and opportunities available, its stakeholders, and the management and political environment
• progresses through planning, and establishing a vision, goals, objectives and strategies to conserve values and reduce threats
• allocates inputs (resources) of staff, money and equipment to work towards the objectives
• implements management actions according to accepted processes
• eventually produces outputs (goods and services, which should usually be outlined in management plans and work plans)
• results in impacts or outcomes, and hopefully achieves defined goals and objectives.

The criteria used in this report to assess each element of the framework are outlined in Table 10.2.

Table 10.2 International Union for Conservation of Nature World Commission on Protected Areas framework for assessing management effectiveness

Elements of management cycle	Design		Adequacy/appropriateness		Delivery
	Context	Planning	Inputs	Process	Outputs	Outcomes
Focus of evaluation	Assessment of importance, threats and policy environment	Assessment of design and planning for management of the environmental topic	Assessment of resources needed to carry out management	Assessment of the way in which management is conducted	Assessment of the implementation of management programs and actions, and the delivery of products and services	Assessment of the outcomes and the extent to which they achieved objectives
Criteria that are assessed	Significance or values Threats Vulnerability Stakeholders National context	Legislation and policy Management system design Management planning	Resources available for management of the topic	Suitability of management processes and the extent to which established or accepted processes are being implemented	Results of management actions Services and products	Impacts (the effects of management in relation to the objectives)

Source: Adapted from Hockings & Gilligan¹

The Hall Cemetery is protected under the Heritage Act because the rare Tarengo Leek Orchid grows therePhoto: ACT Government

Evaluation that assesses each of the elements of Figure 10.1 (and the links between them) provides a comprehensive picture of management effectiveness. All six elements shown in Figure 10.1 are important in developing an understanding of how effectively the environment is being managed. They reflect three large management ‘themes’:

• design (context and planning)
• adequacy/appropriateness (inputs and processes)
• delivery (outputs and outcomes).

Only assessing outcomes may indicate the objectives have been achieved, but leaves it unclear whether it was due to good luck or good management. Conversely, if an outcome is not achieved, then unless all six elements are assessed, it is hard to know if it was due to insufficient resources (inputs), poor planning or a problem with the process.

Cotter Hut at nightPhoto: Mark Jekabsons