342 Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities
technology allows them to gain new skills, provides them with a better sense of
confidence in their efforts and ensures that the Department benefits from
improved data quality. However, when initiating a volunteer monitoring program,
the level of effort, resources and time required to engage and train people can be
considerable, especially in a climate of reduced or minimal funding. The
investment is likely to pay off over time, but it is important to ascertain that
volunteers will commit to the project for the long term, delivering quality data and
also continuity for the monitoring project.
Lessons learned
● (^) The explicit inclusion of volunteers in planning for the monitoring season,
setting priorities and determining approaches is instrumental in providing
people with a sense that their efforts are valued, which in turn helps to improve
the quality of data returned.
● (^) Regular training sessions are an important component of any strategy to
improve the integrity of the data being collected by volunteers. Novices become
acquainted with the preferred monitoring methodology and protocols, and
seasoned volunteers should also be encouraged to attend these sessions as
refreshers, with a view to keeping them on target.
● (^) For rural regions, a preferred volunteer engagement model would be an adopt-
a-threatened-species-site program, using local volunteers. This would mean
less distance to travel for the volunteer and greater sense of ownership of the
project, because of their personal links and bonds with the area. However,
there needs to be a support structure in place for these volunteers.
● (^) By targeting local environmental community groups there is a greater chance
of finding people in the neighbourhood who have the skills and the interest
required to monitor threatened f lora.
● (^) Community groups and NGOs dedicated to bushcare work are often working
on sites with threatened f lora populations. There is scope for these groups to
add value by encouraging volunteers to incorporate monitoring into their
nationally listed plant species for the past 10 years, and has also used her own
initiative to collate a photographic record of the site, with images of habitat
condition and flowering over time. Some landholders from more remote locations
will assist DEWNR staff by letting them know when species such as orchids are
flowering. Involving landholders in monitoring can pay off as they get to know their
site more intimately, and get to witness first hand the benefits of threat abatement
works, as indicators such as regeneration or plant health improve over time.