Repeated assessment of indicators over time (monitoring) gives us the information we need to analyze progress toward measurable objectives or desired states of human and natural systems. Using these results of monitoring to make course corrections in strategies allows us to practice adaptive management. In the wider non-profit community, this process is often referred to as “monitoring & evaluation” as part of “results-based management.”

Monitoring can be cheap and easy such as when we are simply checking to see if we accomplished intermediate steps in a longer-term strategy (e.g., writing a protected area management plan, setting up a trust fund, purchasing land) or assessing a rapidly responding biological or social variable. In other situations, we need to make more substantial investments in monitoring to determine whether we are achieving longer-term conservation outcomes (e.g., improving the viability of a species or ecosystem).

Check out our Measures Brownbag series for first person account of monitoring and indicators in action for conservation!