Adaptation and learning in coastal management: The experience of five EastAfrican initiatives

This article explores principles of adaptive, learning-based resource manag ement and their practical application in coastal management projects in Eas t Africa. The principles of feedback and adjustment, experimentation, and c arefully guided participatory processes that capture widespread knowledge a re used to describe the experience of five projects in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. The findings are drawn from a variety of sources, including si te visits and interviews. The main finding is that adaptive methods are a m ajor feature of all projects, and the general approaches used in each case are similar.