ECOECO MONITORING · Optimal monitoring of socio-economic and ecological systems for robust natural resource management

A fundamental component of successful resource management is monitoring. The aim of this project is to develop a framework for optimal monitoring of conservation activities, integrating both monitoring for compliance and monitoring for detection of biodiversity trends. A robust monitoring strategy must consider the goals of the programme, the type of monitoring that is most effective, and the overall level of investment. This project draws upon and integrates many disciplines, including ecological models of species and ecosystems, socio-economic models of human decision-making and behaviour, optimal monitoring, and decision making under uncertainty. The project will focus on community-based conservation, where local communities are granted control over resources, including monitoring biodiversity trends and compliance with rules. The proposed framework is however highly relevant to a wide range of management situations, such as international fisheries regulation and water management. The specific objectives are: 1. To develop a model framework that integrates the dynamics of socio-economic and ecological systems; 2. To explore the effectiveness and efficiency of monitoring strategies that target resource users’ behaviour and populations of conserved species; 3. To apply the framework to a case study of community-based natural resource management in the Alaotra Wetland, Madagascar, where local people and threatened species depend on an ecosystem vulnerable to degradation; 4. To generalise the framework to a wider set of situations and explore changes in key parameters, particularly the structuring of external incentives and the spatial distribution and ecology of natural resources; 5. To communicate findings to the research community and to natural resource managers, making recommendations for the design of community-based conservation schemes and effective resource monitoring.