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In this context, a ”strategy” is a logically consistent set
of individual actions combined to create a comprehensive policy
response. Usually there are several categories of possible
management actions, and creating a strategy involves selecting
one or more actions from each category and combining them to
create a comprehensive strategy, normally with a recognizable
theme or approach.
A strategy table is a logical and convenient way of
describing the definition of alternatives in terms of specific
selections made from various categories of actions.
Consider the recovery planning process for a species at risk. A
comprehensive recovery plan may encompass several categories of
actions:
- Habitat protection
- Predator control
- Recreational access management
- Reproductive enhancement
- Monitoring
For each of these categories, we can create a shopping list
of candidate actions to choose from.
| Habitat Protection |
Predator Control |
Population Enhancement |
Monitoring |
| Status Quo |
Status Quo Harvest |
None |
None |
| Establish no-logging zones in critical
habitat |
Increase harvest to reduce population by 10% |
Maternity Pens |
Basic Monitoring |
| Develop linkage corridors |
Increase harvest to reduce population by 20% |
Captive Breeding |
Enhanced Monitoring |
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Lethal Control to reduce population by 20% |
Translocation |
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Now there are a multitude of possible combinations, but not
all of them logically go together, or alternatively, some may
need to be done in concert. In the above case for example,
translocating animals without concurrent predator control would
not likely be considered. Depending on the decision context, it
is usually useful to define 2-8 logical combinations or
strategies.
In the example show below, three strategies are developed for recovery of
a species at risk. The first two explore different strategies
for maintaining the existing population. The first (red) is
largely the status quo, with more intensive monitoring. The
second (blue) involves increasing the harvest of predators
thought to threaten the population. The third strategy (purple)
aims at increasing the herd size up to the carrying capacity of
the region, involving both protection of threatened habitat, and
implementation of a captive breeding program.
(Click to enlarge image)
These strategies
provide a good starting point. Subsequent modeling should
facilitate a helpful learning process from both a technical
basis (what would better achieve the objectives) and a
value-basis (which solutions offer the most desirable balance of
outcomes).
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Sometimes alternatives can be described in terms of
specific selections from various management
categories. An alternative is a single, specific
combination of options from each category.