This document addresses the Project aim by defining a management framework, a context for management decision-making, through highlighting the scientific perspective, broadening the knowledge base, and clarifying the connections of the ecological aspects to management. This includes a description of the main drivers and responders that make up the ecosystem, to support the selection of key indicators of ecosystem health. We used data collected during the SCIONA project for this study, complemented by dialogues with stakeholders and an extensive literature review. The Transfrontier Park is ecologically an integrated part of the larger ecosystem that extends from the ocean across the hyper-arid zone, where the human footprint is relatively small, into the arid zone, where human influence is pervasive on various levels. The focus in this report is on the broader ecological region best defined as the Kaokoveld, and on both its human and natural inhabitants. The target audience for this report are the conservation authorities on both sides of the border, the various community conservation bodies (conservancy committees) and NGOs that are active in the region. Our focus is on the ecosystem that supports livelihoods, whether this is through the pastoralist lifestyle of the majority of the people living in the region, or through existing or future tourism opportunities that may be created through renewed attention to the management of the protected areas in both countries. We describe the main factors that influence ecosystem structure and function, or represent important processes, in six thematic chapters (the role of water, biodiversity patterns, wildlife movement, human influence, the marine environment, and projected changes in climate). These six chapters collectively describe the management context, which is dealt with as a seventh chapter. The implications for monitoring, although really an integral part of management, are discussed in a separate chapter.