Ecosystem Approach to Management (EAM)

The ecosystem approach to management (EAM), also called ecosystem-based management, manages human activities by considering the whole ecosystem, including cumulative impacts across sectors, rather than one species or one use at a time. It sets objectives for ecosystem structure, function, and the services people draw from it, applying the precautionary approach under uncertainty. The Convention on Biological Diversity adopted it as a guiding principle, and it is the operating philosophy of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC, which seeks good environmental status across eleven descriptors. EAM underlies marine spatial planning and integrated coastal zone management, replacing single-sector regulation with coordinated, place-based governance.