Title
What Do We Need to Know for Successful Monitoring? Tips Based on the Open Conservation Standards
Author(s)
Oliveira, Leonardo de Carvalho ;Didier, Karl
Published
2016
Publisher
Biodiversidade Brasileira
Abstract
To increase both the amount of resources available for conservation and the efficiency with which these resources are spent, we discuss in this article what projects aiming at conservation and management of natural resources should do to improve their adaptive management processes, including how to plan their strategies, monitor their effects, and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these strategies. Using as a basis the adaptive management approach known from the Open Standards for Conservation Practice, we suggest some key components and tools for strategic planning and project monitoring, in particular diagramming tools (conceptual models and results chain) and the usefulness of prior measures and areas of comparison (e.g. controls) for monitoring the effectiveness of strategies. To demonstrate the usefulness of adaptive management, we discuss two current examples of published projects that have completed at least one adaptive management cycle (plan, monitor, evaluate and adapt). To increase both the amount of conservation resources available and the efficiency with which those resources are spent, we make the case that projects of conservation and natural resources management should work on improving their adaptive processes. This includes how projects plan their strategies, track the effects of those strategies, and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of actions. By using an adaptive management process denominated the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation as a foundation, we suggest some key components and tools for strategic planning and project monitoring, such as diagramming tools (conceptual models and results chain). We also suggest the use of preliminary measures prior to planning and a design employing comparison areas (i.e., control sites) for assessments of strategy effectiveness. To demonstrate the utility of adaptive management, we briefly summarize two previously published examples of actual projects that have completed at least one adaptive management cycle (planning, monitoring, evaluation, and adaptation processes). In this article we discuss what projects aimed at natural resource conservation and management should work on to achieve better results in their adaptive management processes, in order to increase the amount of resources available for conservation and the efficiency in spending those resources, that is: planning their strategies, monitoring the effects of those strategies, and evaluating their cost-effectiveness. Based on an adaptive management approach known as the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation, we suggest some key elements and tools for strategic planning and monitoring of projects, in particular diagramming tools (conceptual models and results chains) and the usefulness of pre-measures and comparison zones (e.g., controls) for monitoring strategy effectiveness. To demonstrate the usefulness of adaptive management, we summarize two previously published examples of real projects that have completed at least one adaptive management cycle (planning, monitoring, evaluation, and adaptation).
Keywords
cadeia de resultados;manejo adaptativo;modelo conceitual;planejamento de conservação;teoria de mudanças;adaptive management;conceptual model;conservation planning;open standards;results chain;theory of change;estándares abiertos;estándares abiertos;teoría del cambio;los resultados del cadena;manejo adaptativo;modelo conceptual;modelo conceptual;planificación de la conservación
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