29 – Summary: community participation in monitoring for threatened biodiversity^37128). Citizen science projects can further have difficulties finding and maintaining
suitable and reliable volunteers. Availability of people in less urban areas can be
challenging and certain projects may be less appealing to volunteers (e.g. counting
plants on a roadside; Chapter 26). Issues can also arise from overly enthusiastic
volunteers conducting works not authorised (e.g. hand pollination of orchids;
Chapter 26) or even volunteer burnout (Chapter 28). Further challenges in
monitoring can arise if there is conf lict between conservation objectives and other
community values (Chapter 25). Most of these issues, however, can be mitigated by
careful planning and community consultation, appropriate project design and
management, and by providing adequate and ongoing training. This does,
however, require resources (time and money) that could be used elsewhere, so there
are trade-offs that need to be considered.
Each chapter in this section concludes with a summary of the lessons learned
during their monitoring programs, which are useful to others considering setting
up monitoring programs involving substantial community participation. Shared
and important recommendations are to: have clear objectives and reasonable
expectations; have monitoring techniques that are accessible to a range of abilities
or that match the target audience; provide regular training to ensure consistency of
methods and data quality; build capacity and ownership so that the community is
an advocate for the program; provide regular updates on monitoring and outcomes
such that people feel that their contribution is recognised and valuable; and, lastly,
ensure that the monitoring program is linked to conservation outcomes.
Monitoring programs with high levels of Indigenous engagement have a
particular context that distinguish them from other programs. These different
engagement approaches and objectives for monitoring are covered in greater
detail in Chapters 25 and 27. For example, such programs should always be
developed collaboratively and/or be led by the Indigenous communities. They are
likely to have a broader suite of objectives that incorporate cultural, as well as
conservation, values. In establishing Indigenous monitoring partnerships,
adequate time must be allowed to develop relationships and trust, and to identify
common goals. Fundamental to this process is respect for Indigenous cultural and
intellectual property.
In contrast to monitoring partnerships with Indigenous groups, monitoring
programs that are accessible to the broader public are guided by a different set of
criteria. Such programs may be implemented based on scientific advice or
management needs, with an understanding of the relevance to community.
However, it is still important to involve people in planning because this ensures
they have greater understanding of the program objectives, and facilitates better
data collection because there is a greater comprehension for how the data will be
used. It is helpful to foster community ownership of the program (e.g. adopt-a-
threatened-species-site, Chapter 26) because this encourages people to feel valued,