Strategic Adaptive Management for Transparency, Accountability and Learning: Insights from More Than a Quarter Century of Practice

Adaptive management has long been advocated as a framework of choice for addressing the complexities and uncertainties of natural resource management. Despite its theoretical appeal, successful implementation remains elusive, with many documented barriers and limited operational examples. This paper examines Strategic Adaptive Management (SAM), a long-running adaptive management program originating from the Kruger National Park in South Africa. SAM's formulation in the 1990s drew on principles from value-based business planning and adaptive management, emphasizing the co-defining of a desired state or aspirational outcome that incorporates societal values, management pragmatism and scientific rigor. Following a case study approach, we analyze SAM's conceptual evolution and geographic spread through a bibliographic synthesis including operational and trialed case examples spanning rivers, protected areas and rural landscapes. We identify three parallel streams of development, in South Africa's national parks, Australia and the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Experiences, including strengths and weaknesses, from these streams were used to characterize present-day SAM and its iterative cycles of envisioning a desired state, considering management options, implementing actions, reviewing outcomes and adapting, alongside omnipresent co-learning and reflection. Additionally, the paper contextualizes SAM within the broad application of adaptive management, including active- and passive adaptive management, adaptive co-management and Conservation Standards, highlighting similarities and opportunities for cross-learning. Our synthesis underscores SAM's transparency, scalability and value in fostering stakeholder collaboration and co-learning across diverse environmental contexts. SAM offers a robust framework for achieving strategic, vision-oriented management amidst uncertainty, even with implementation challenges.