| Management tools |
Existing |
Mechanisms and programmes in place |
Comments (if any) |
| Public awareness, education, and information dissemination programmes |
yes |
Education and outreach have been used as a tool in resource protection from the beginning of the Sanctuary Program in the Keys. A number of educational programs are implemented in the sanctuary. Examples of these programs include instruction to teachers and students about the Sanctuary environment, onsite interpretive tours, the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center in Key West, subject-specific lectures, interpretive law enforcement, interpretive exhibits at trade shows and festivals, training seminars, and volunteer programs. |
|
| Capacity building of staff and management |
no |
|
|
| Research, data storage, and analysis |
yes |
Research and monitoring are critical to achieving the Sanctuary's primary goal of resource protection. The Keys' ecosystem is diverse and complex, and many of its processes and their interrelationships are not well known. Also, while many resource impacts are obvious and severe, they are often not documented or quantified, and their causes may be even less clear or completely unknown. The purpose of research and monitoring is to establish a baseline of information on the resource and the various components of the ecosystem, and how they interact. In this way, research and monitoring ensures the effective implementation of management strategies using the best available scientific information. Research and monitoring activities focus on fundamental processes and specific management-driven topics. Information generated from such activities is used to:
• provide the public with a means to evaluate the effectiveness of the Sanctuary;
• provide a means to distinguish between the effects of human activities and natural variability;
• develop hypotheses about causal relationships which can then be investigated;
• evaluate management actions; and
• verify and validate quantitative predictive models used to evaluate and select management actions. |
|
| Surveillance and enforcement |
no |
|
|
| Participation of exterior users |
no |
|
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| Alternative and sustainable livelihoods |
no |
|
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| Adaptative management |
no |
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