Modelling the management of nature reserves A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Australian National University Carol Joyce Boughton May 2015 © Carol Joyce Boughton 2015 Dedication To Clive and S L T O R V E E N L G I T F H E I declare that the work in this thesis is entirely my own and that to the best of my knowledge it does not contain any materials previously published or written by another person except where otherwise indicated. Carol Joyce Boughton May 2015 v Acknowledgements I am indebted to Shayne Flint who accepted a request from me to be my primary supervisor for my PhD candidature. His encouragement and thoughtful suggestions throughout are greatly appreciated. To the other members of my Supervisory Panel – Chris Johnson and Ramesh Sankaranarayana, I thank you for your participation. Tony Jakeman agreed to provide advice on environmental aspects on an ad hoc basis. His support during the early stages of my candidature was welcomed and opportune, as too his suggestions for avenues of research and possible references. During the years of my candidature I have spoken with many fellow students, colleagues, friends and acquaintances who showed interest in my research. Thank you all for listening, and allowing me to vocalise my ‘bright’ ideas. Without the contributions of the respondents to my survey relating to the management of nature reserves in Australia, my understanding of current nature reserve management practices would be somewhat diminished. I thank you all for providing the data essential for Chapter 5 of my thesis. My two case studies, Barren Grounds Nature Reserve and Archbold Biological Station, rely on information provided by the Ranger and Project Officer at Highlands Area (for Barren Grounds Nature Reserve) and many at Archbold Biological Station, including those who attended a presentation I gave there, based on the initial results from my survey. Thank you to each of you for your contribution. In the development of the generic nature reserve management system and application in the two case studies, I relied on the format of views as adopted in the Artisan modelling tool. My thanks go to Matthew Hause for his introductory training in the use of this tool and the availability of his example models. My husband, Clive, has supported me in many ways, but most importantly in retaining, or at times regaining, my belief that what I was researching was worthwhile. Thank you. Finally, to the Drs Boughton and Palmer fraternity, thank you for supporting me to seek to become one of you! vi vii Abstract Protection of Earth’s natural systems takes many forms, with the establishment of nature reserves dedicated and managed to achieve long-term protection a key global intent. While efforts continue to increase the area encapsulated within the global protected area network, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Reports of 2011 and 2013 conclude that management of nature reserves continues to be inadequate or ineffective. A survey of nature reserve managers in Australia confirms management is an ongoing issue and provides information on what managers are using to assist with their management activities. If good management equates to meeting the objectives defined for a nature reserve, then understanding what is management is a precondition to improving management. A systems approach underpins the identification of essential aspects of nature reserve management to be used as the basis for creating a model of a generic nature reserve management system. A model that can be used by on-the- ground nature reserve managers to reflect on what influences, or has impact on, their management role and how they could improve their management to assist in meeting the objectives of their reserve. The nature reserve management system model is an architecture description expressed in the standardised systems modelling language (SysML) and developed using an architecture framework incorporating aspects of governance, specifically the United States Department of Defense Architecture Framework - DoDAF. A proof-of-concept of the generic nature reserve management system model is demonstrated via two case studies. The results of these demonstrations support the value of a nature reserve management system as an aid to management, the application of DoDAF to a non-military context, and the use of three new practical tools to aid in identifying DoDAF model elements. The proof-of-concept also indicates the same approach may be applicable in developing a generic management system capable of tailoring to other specific domains. viii Contents ix ___________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………….. v Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………… vii List of Boxes ……………………………………………………………………………... xiii List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………………. xv List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………….. xix Abbreviations …………………………………………………………………………… xxiii Notation …………………………………………………………………………………. xxvi Part I – Introduction 1 1 Overview ……………………………………………………………………………3 1.2 Introduction ………………………………………………………………..5 1.2 Initial motivation and research aim ……………………………………. 5 1.3 Thesis scope ………………………………………………………………6 1.4 Thesis structure ………………………………………………………….. 6 1.5 Summary of contribution …………………………………………………8 2 Background ……………………………………………………………………………9 2.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………... 11 2.2 Frame of reference …………… 11 2.3 Management of nature reserves – a problem ………………………..13 2.4 Management of nature reserves – a systems modelling approach ..21 2.5 Understanding the management of nature reserves ………………..25 2.6 Summary …………………………………………………………………28 x Contents ________________________________________________________________ 3 Management …………………………………………………………………….. 29 3.1 Introduction to management …………………………………………...31 3.2 Management context ……………………………………………………31 3.3 What is meant by ‘management’ ………………………………………34 3.4 Aspects from current management approaches …………………….38 3.5 Management aspects deduced from legislation governing nature reserves ………………………………………………………………… .51 3.5 Management conclusions ……………………………………………...52 4 Modelling ………………………………………………………………………….53 4.1 Modelling introduction …………………………………………………..55 4.2 Systems thinking ………………………………………………………...56 4.3 Modelling methods ………………………………………………………64 4.4 Systems modelling ………………………………………………………73 4.5 Modelling conclusions …………………………………………………..76 Part Ii – Contribution 79 5 Survey ……………………………………………………………………………..81 5.1 Background ……………………………………………………………...83 5.2 The survey ……………………………………………………………….83 5.3 Reserve representativeness …………………………………………...84 5.4 Management of reserves ……………………………………………….87 5.5 Respondents …………………………………………………………….92 5.6 Discussion ………………………………………………………………..98 5.6 Survey conclusion ……………………………………………………..101 6 Nature Reserve Management System (NRM) model ………………………103 6.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………. 105 Contents xi ___________________________________________________________________ 6.2 Simple system model for nature reserves …………………………105 6.3 Domain context of the NRM system ………………………………..111 6.4 Additional aspects of context of the NRM system …………………115 6.5 NRM system and DoDAF …………………………………………….126 6.6 The NRM system architecture description based on the DoDAF architecture framework ………………………………………………..128 6.7 Discussion ………………………………………………………………156 Part III – Proof of concept and conclusions 161 7 Case studies …………………………………………………………………….163 7.1 Case studies introduction ………………………………………….….165 7.2 Barren Grounds Nature Reserve (BGNR) …………………………..165 7.3 Archbold Biological Station (ABS) ……………………………………196 7.4 Case studies conclusions ……………………………………………..239 8 Conclusions and Future Research …………………………………………...247 8.1 Summary of research and outcomes ………………………………..249 8.2 Summary of contribution ………………………………………………252 8.3 Limitation of contribution ………………………………………………254 8.4 Future research ………………………………………………………..254 8.5 Closing remarks ……………………………………………………….255 Part IV – Appendices 257 A Matrix of management aspects ………………………………………259 B Definition of IUCN protected area categories ………………………265 C Adaptive management definitions ……………………………………267 D SysML and UPDM ……………………………………………………..269 xii Contents ________________________________________________________________ D.1 SysML ………………………………………………………….270 D.2 UPDM ………………………………………………………….274 E Survey questionnaire and results …………………………………………….283 E.1 Survey questionnaire ………………………………………………….284 E.2 Survey responses ……………………………………………………..290 F Aspects of management and associated legal provisions for nature reserves in the Australian Capita Territory ……………………………………………..317 G Descriptions of classes and their attributes in the nature reserve (requirements) information model …………………………………………… 327 H Types of stakeholder …………………………………………………………. .365 I Interpretation of the DoDAF Conceptual Data Model (CDM) ……………...369 Glossary ................................................................................................................. 377 Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 383 List of Boxes xiii ___________________________________________________________________ List of Boxes Box 3.1 - Human activity to be managed ................................................................. 51 Box 6.1 - Reserve aspects ..................................................................................... 116 Box 6.2 - Key words applying to