144 Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities
related environmental layers has potential use in establishing Australia wide
biodiversity monitoring (Zerger et al. 2013).● (^) capture data at a range of reportable scales: The abundance and distribution
of a species are affected by processes that operate at multiple scales. In
response, threatened species are managed at multiple scales and a range of
strategies will nearly always be required. Policy and management respond
through the implementation of multi-species and regional recovery plans and
threat abatement plans. Integrating data collected at a variety of scales to draw
robust inference at the scale required is a challenge (Jones 2011), but important
in reporting against national and international biodiversity goals (Bubb 2013).
A strategic and complementary mix of local-scale and continental-scale
monitoring is increasingly recognised to maximise the value of information
collected (Stephenson et al. 2015). Models of international reporting are in
place, such as the Living Planet Index (Collen et al. 2009), which is being
modified for use in Australia’s Threatened Species Index Project (see earlier).
● (^) be developed through cooperation and collaboration: The Threatened Species
Strategy ref lects the need for collaboration and coordination, building on and
celebrating success to date. Because many different stakeholders are engaged in
threatened species conservation, there are significant challenges in aggregating
and standardising data and other information collected from multiple sources.
Monitoring species and communities across jurisdictional boundaries can be
challenging because data may be collected in different ways or there may be
differing jurisdictional priorities. Cooperation is therefore essential to enable
the adoption of consistent approaches and compatible methodologies for each
threatened species, by various groups. Improved governance has already been
identified as a key mechanism to support such collaboration.
Lessons learned
The need for better information on the trends in status of Australia’s threatened
species to measure the effectiveness of conservation effort by the community is
recognised. We wish to know how threatened species are faring, whether
management actions taken are having the desired impact and to be able to
maintain an adaptive and timely response to prioritisation of conservation
management. This overall picture is not available from any current national
reporting program. Key lessons are identified that collectively might provide
guidance on the development of any such framework.
● (^) Monitoring and reporting is integral to threatened species conservation
policy and practice: A mix of legislation, policy and international agreements
collectively provides for the protection of threatened species nationally, as well
as planning, implementation and reporting responses. In meeting statutory