Planning an adaptive management process for biodiversity conservation and resource development in the Camisea River basin

The Smithsonian Institution's Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program joined Shell Prospecting and Development Peru (SPDP) to protect biodiversity during a natural gas exploration project. Emphasis was on long-term societal and environmental benefits in addition to financial gain for the company. The systematic, cyclical adaptive management process was used to generate feedback for SPDP managers. Adaptive management enables ongoing improvement of management policies and practices based on lessons learned from operational activities. Previous to this study, very little information about the local biodiversity was available. Over a 2-year period, the team conducted biological assessments of six taxonomic groups at five sites located within 600 km(2). A broad range of management options such as location, timing and technology were developed from the beginning of the project. They were considered in conjunction with emerging lessons from the biodiversity assessments. Critical decisions included location of a gas plant and the cost of helicopter access versus roads to service the full field development. Both of these decisions were evaluated to ensure that they were economically and environmentally feasible. Project design changes, addressed in the planning stage, were accepted once consensus was achieved. Stakeholders were apprised of the implications of the baseline biodiversity assessments.