Proceedings : International Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Symposium (ITEMS), November 1998

Abstract

These Proceedings of the International Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Symposium are somewhat unusual in form reflecting the nature of this Symposium as a gathering of managers, scientists and stakeholders who met together to consider the management of Coral Reefs and related Ecosystems. The first part is a fOl'mall'epol't of an International Gathering. The second part presents the reports and background papers that were provided by the participants and which formed the basis of discussion for various sessions in the Symposium. The third part contains the outputs of the cross·cutting working groups. These reflect the nature of the issues that the workshops were addressing and the variety of approaches brought by the range of participants with different perspectives and fields of expertise. Vve have not edited these reports for consistency of style and removal of overlap. We consider that the different perspectives and the ways in which they identify and express priorities are likely to be helpful to people seeking to design and implement support and oversight products and programs to improve the management of Coral Reef Ecosystems.