Monitoring

Too often cash-strapped projects have argued that they cannot afford to monitor, because it would funnel scarce personnel and financial resources away from 'vital' conservation actions. Yet as we all know, though not checking the tyre pressure, oil level and brake fluid may save us a little time and effort in the short-term, it risks serious problems and significant costs somewhere along the road- usually miles from the nearest garage!

Monitoring is critical to effective wildlife conservation because it helps us to learn what is working, what is not, and whether or not our assumptions about 'how the world works' were correct.

Within the Living Landscapes Program we are working hard to develop a cost effective framework for monitoring the changing status of wildlife populations and their habitat, and evaluating the effectiveness of our efforts to conserve wildlife and wildlands.

Other useful resources

Books:

D. S. Wilkie and J. T. Finn. Remote sensing imagery for natural resources monitoring: a guide for first-time users, New York:Columbia University Press, 1996. 295 pages.

L. J. T. White and A. Edwards. Conservation research in the African rain forests: a technical handbook, New York: Wildlife Conservation Society, 2000. 353 pages.

R. Margolius and N. Salafsky. Measures of success: designing, managing and monitoring conservation and development projects, Washington, D.C.:Island Press, 1998. 362 pages.

J. R. Karr and E. W. Chu. Restoring life in running waters, Washington, D.C.:Island Press, 1999. 206 pages.