A conservation
management system (CMS) is simply a tool that aids and improves the
way in operational plans are made for heritage assets. Its
prime function is to target projects at measurable objectives in
order to promote efficient and effective working and
recording. It also enables the exchange of information within
and between organisations. These are essential components of any
management system, whether for a village pond, or the control of
neighbourhood crime. Therefore a CMS applied to manage a
community’s green heritage assets is a model that can be
applied to other areas of community development.
A CMS is a
project-based planning and recording system aimed at managing
conservation features within acceptable limits of variation. A
'project' is simply a programme of work leading to
an output e.g. 'construct a footpath', 'patrol an
area' or 'record a species'. Projects are aimed at specific
factors limiting the attainment of management objectives.
Each project includes a description of a process, e.g.
the work to be done, when and where it is to be done, and
the inputs of resources required to produce
specified outputs. When a project is completed, the actual
outputs are recorded; e.g.. the length of fencing, the number of
plants identified.
The outcome is the results of all
outputs aimed at fulfilling a management objective. It is the
actual state of the feature at the end of a project, and is
measured by performance indicators. Performance indicators
are quantitative or qualitative attributes of the features and are
assessed by special monitoring- projects in order
to gauge success in reaching the management objectives. Copies of
all projects and their outputs and outcomes are retained in the CMS
to provide a progress-register, and an archive to support
managerial continuity.
The prime function
of a CMS is to enable site managers control the operational
functions of a management plan as a feedback work-cycle
by:-
-
identifying and describing, in a
standard way, all the tasks of work required to manage the site's
conservation features by addressing the key limiting
factors (positive of negative), which influence the
condition of the features.
-
producing and budgeting
various work programmes, for example five year plans,
rolling-plans, annual schedules, financial schedules, and work
schedules for specified categories of staff.
-
providing a
site/species monitoring system to check the
effectiveness of the plan against the objectives that were set for
it.
-
facilitating
the exchange of site management information by
reporting, within, and between, sites and
organisations.
A CMS for
professional conservation managers is maintained and developed as a
software relational database by the UK CMS Consortium.
However, a simple
CMS plan can be organised on paper, a spreadsheet or a simple 'To
Do' list. Examples are given in 'Making a plan: practical
tools'.
