Cross-Sector Ecosystem-Based Management Principles and Implementation Steps: The Nigerian Perspective

The complex economic, social, and environmental interactions in coastal areas require multi-sectoral approaches to understanding and designing effective management measures. The existing traditional management approaches fail to successfully identify economic, social, and ecological values and incorporate them into marine and estuarine ecosystems management. Therefore, there is a need for a holistic approach to help understand the socio-ecological system complexity and assist in policy and management of the marine and estuarine ecosystems. In recent years, Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) has been relevant and implemented in many case studies of marine management and conservation of natural resources. However, there is a lack of consensus about its definition and key principles, which has affected its practical application in research. This article offers insight into EBM fundamental principles and steps to disaggregate ecosystems and resource management activities into a sequence of tangible levels of achievement and close the management gaps in the traditional approaches. We examined the principles and steps in EBM theoretical literature, covering a range of published sources across disciplines and continents. Based on the appearance frequency in literature, seven key EBM principles were identified and presented in this article. The steps to address the management gap in the traditional approaches and to implement EBM based on the identified principles were articulated further, especially in the Nigerian coastal management perspective. This article also examines the cases of implementation of EBM in the past and predicts the possible direction of EBM in the future if more attention is given to finding a center balance between its many principles and improving stability in its application in future research.