Governance Recommendations for the Implementation of Ecosystem-Based Management within the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership

The Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership (APNEP) is an estuarine management program operating from within the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources with financial support from USEPA. The program area extends across most of the Albemarle-Pamlico watershed, including a large portion of southern Virginia. Recently, APNEP has revised its management plan to implement an Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) strategy that takes a multimodal approach to conservation. In this report, we use case studies of other individual state, bi-state, regional, and international conservation partnerships to produce a set of objectives for APNEP to increase its institutional ability to implement EBM goals throughout its program area. Findings include recommendations and advice to: (a) establish mechanisms of accountability for essential management organizations; (b) develop EBM agendas for specific agencies; (c) establish priority management areas; (d) expand APNEP’s program area to include the entire Roanoke River Basin; (e) expand cooperative GIS mapping capability between NC and VA; (f) update and renew the MOA between NC and VA agencies for cooperative regional conservation management; and, (g) address the possible relocation of the APNEP office from a state agency.