35 – Essential principles to guide monitoring of threatened biodiversity^435essential throughout the program cycle; from the first discussions with natural
resource managers, landowners and decision makers, through to evaluation and
communicating the monitoring results to managers, policy makers and the broader
community, and reporting on conservation outcomes. The value of monitoring may
not always be realised by those outside the monitoring program. This is problematic
if the disconnect is with those determining the longevity of the program via
funding and/or the intended end-user of the information. Thus, it is the
responsibility of those involved with monitoring to champion the cause. This
chapter emphasises the importance of critical evaluation and reporting in conveying
value, and thus improving monitoring and management outcomes.
Critical evaluation of monitoring programs and regular reporting ensures
feedback of information to management and other stakeholders, enabling
adjustments to be made to ongoing monitoring and management action
(Lindenmayer and Likens 2010). Evaluation provides a review and assessment of
monitoring data and other components of the program against stated goals.
Evaluation can occur at multiple levels. At the species level, analysing monitoring
data determines trends in species distribution and abundance. This provides
updates to species status and enables predictions of trends through time. At the
program level, evaluation reveals the effectiveness of management actions,
suitability of methodological approach, efficiency of resource allocation, and how
well the program is meeting conservation objectives. Budget constraints demand
efficient and effective resource use; it is therefore important to be able to justify
resource allocation. From a conservation perspective, it is important also to
ascertain the impact that particular management actions are having on the
achievement of conservation outcomes. At a higher level, monitoring programs
may need to demonstrate their worth against competing priorities, such as
monitoring other threatened species, targeted species research or meeting different
management objectives.
Evaluation provides an opportunity to report to managers and stakeholders
and allows improvements to monitoring and management programs. Such report
cards are an important communication tool because they demonstrate the value of
monitoring and can highlight successes achieved or failures avoided through
effective management interventions. Communicating the value of monitoring can
help secure funding, ensure support among stakeholders and encourage broader
uptake and integration of monitoring into management, with commensurable
improvements to species recovery (Butchart et al. 2010; Lindenmayer and Likens
2010; Lindenmayer et al. 2011; McDonald et al. 2015).
Concluding remarks
Monitoring of threatened biodiversity is a high-stakes endeavour. Failure to
adequately consider any one of the five principles outlined above can facilitate