Abstract
Protected areas are under increasing threat from a range of external and internal pressures on biodiversity. With a primary mandate being the conservation of biodiversity, monitoring is an essential component of measuring the performance of protected areas. Here we present a framework for guiding the structure and development of a Biodiversity Monitoring System (BMS) for South African National Parks (SANParks). Monitoring activities in the organisation are currently unevenly distributed across parks, taxa and key concerns: they do not address the full array of biodiversity objectives, and have largely evolved in the absence of a coherent, overarching framework. The requirement for biodiversity monitoring in national parks is clearly specified in national legislation and international policy, as well as by SANParks’ own adaptive management philosophy. Several approaches available for categorising the multitude of monitoring requirements were considered in the development of the BMS, and 10 Biodiversity Monitoring Programmes (BMPs) were selected that provide broad coverage of higher-level biodiversity objectives of parks. A set of principles was adopted to guide the development of BMPs (currently underway), and data management, resource and capacity needs will be considered during their development. It is envisaged that the BMS will provide strategic direction for future investment in this core component of biodiversity conservation and management in SANParks. Conservation implications: Monitoring biodiversity in protected areas is essential to assessing their performance. Here we provide a coordinated framework for biodiversity monitoring in South African National Parks. The proposed biodiversity monitoring system addresses the broad range of park management plan derived biodiversity objectives.
Highlights
Protected areas in many parts of the world are under increasing threat from climate change, unsustainable resource use, system impoverishment, habitat conversion and isolation as a result of increasingly intense land use along their borders (Carey, Dudley & Stolton 2000; Hansen & DeFries 2007)
Biodiversity monitoring systems in protected areas are intended to provide early recognition of unforeseen changes that impact on biodiversity, and to contribute to understanding potential impacts of current and new activities on biodiversity
The identification and selection of these programmes took place at a workshop attended by 20 SANParks scientists in October 2009, following the development and adoption of the Biodiversity Monitoring Framework (2008–2009, presented here) (Figure 2 and Table 2)
Summary
Protected areas in many parts of the world are under increasing threat from climate change, unsustainable resource use, system impoverishment (e.g. air pollution, encroachment), habitat conversion (e.g. roads, buildings) and isolation as a result of increasingly intense land use along their borders (Carey, Dudley & Stolton 2000; Hansen & DeFries 2007). It encompasses quantitative monitoring of the elements, and the processes and mechanisms that generate, maintain and threaten biodiversity As such, this framework provides, (1) the rationale for developing a SANParks BMS, (2) the organisational, national and international contexts within which the BMS is positioned, (3) an overview of the current status of biodiversity monitoring in SANParks, (4) an overarching structure and set of objectives for the BMS and (5) guiding principles and requirements for the development of monitoring programmes. The situation outlined here, while recognised as undesirable, is not uncommon to national protected area systems (e.g., Australia [Buckley et al 2008] and the United Kingdom [Kapos et al 2008]) It provides the principle motivation for the development and implementation of a BMS for SANParks that addresses and prioritises the full range of key biodiversity concerns, conservation, and reporting commitments and obligations across parks, taxa and environments. Different approaches to categorising monitoring objectives are usually complementary, and two main approaches (described below) were used to guide the design and development of
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