Report from the Director, September 2008 - The environmental field is chock full of jargon and acronyms like TDR, TMDL, SEPs, and others. But one phrase that has been much discussed lately is ecosystem based management or EBM. EBM is a management approach that seeks to:

• Integrate ecological, social, and economic goals and recognizes humans as key components of the ecosystem.
  
• Consider ecological- not just political- boundaries.
  
• Address the complexity of natural processes and social systems and uses an adaptive management approach in the face of resulting uncertainties.
  
• Engage multiple stakeholders in a collaborative process to define problems and find solutions.
  
• Incorporate understanding of ecosystem processes and how ecosystems respond to environmental perturbations.
  
• Focus on the ecological integrity of coastal-marine systems and the sustainability of both human and ecological systems.
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