If we know what management we need to do, where to do it and how to recognise when it has been or is being successful, we are in a position to set up an efficient and reliable monitoring project.

One way to approach this is to set up a series of reference points designed specifically to tell you whether the management of this habitat on this site is having the required impact, i.e. whether the management is maintaining the habitat in a favourable state, is in the process of restoring the habitat to a favourable state, or has been successful in restoring the habitat to a favourable state.

These reference points should not be distributed randomly (we are not conducting scientific research here) but situated in those locations most likely to tell us whether our management is delivering the required results.

A more detailed account of this approach can be found here.

Direct monitoring tools

The Eurosite Remote Sensing Support Group has organised a webinar series on the use of remote sensing and new technologies in conservation management. The webinars covered three topics:

• Drone potential for vegetation monitoring
• An introduction to QGIS for natural site managers
• Improving bird count accuracy with ImageJ

These webinars can be watched for free through the above links.

Links to additional information

• Hurford, C. & Březina, S. (2017). Management monitoring of habitats and its implementation in montane meadows in the Krkonoše Mts. Opera Corcontica 54, Suppl. 1. [in Czech].
• Case studies covering a wide range of species and habitats can be found in: Hurford, C., Schneider, M. (eds) (2006) Monitoring nature conservation in cultural habitats: A practical guide and case studies. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
• Hurford, C. & Guest, D. (2010). Monitoring the Ranunculion habitat of the Western Cleddau: a case study. In: Hurford C, Schneider M & Cowx I (eds) (2010) Conservation Monitoring in Freshwater Habitats: Practical guide and case studies. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.