Setting biodiversity monitoring objectives

Clear monitoring objectives are essential to ensure the effectiveness of any biodiversity monitoring process. Clear objectives ensure the collection of relevant data, resource allocation, and successful evaluation of conservation efforts. Despite their importance, many monitoring programmes lack explicit statements of their goals.

This work aims to explain what well-defined monitoring objectives are, outline steps to articulate them and identify potential barriers. Well-defined monitoring objectives are concise and unambiguous, articulating the specific goals and desired outcomes of the activity. They should be closely linked with the overall organisational and programme goals while being contextualised within the broader current knowledge about the area, taxon of interest, and stressors. We suggest different steps to develop well-defined objectives that focus on "why" the monitoring is needed, "what" aspects of biodiversity will be measured with a focus on species and habitat, "how" the monitoring will be conducted (i.e., which method), and "where and when" this monitoring will take place. By following these steps, we encourage the different stakeholders interested in biodiversity monitoring to consider the various aspects of the monitoring process separately, but also as part of the same framework.

Accompanying the report are the following annexes: -Annex 1: A spreadsheet containing examples of well-defined objectives in relation to the different steps described in the framework. -Annex 2: A quick reference guide to set biodiversity monitoring objectives. -Annex 3: A spreadsheet containing a decisional tool designed to assist in developing biodiversity monitoring objectives.

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