In 2004 William Sutherland et al outlined the need for a revolution in conservation, a revolution which bases science at the centre of conservation (http://www.sciencedirect.com/
will try to avoid recapping the entire article; it's short and easy to read so read it for yourself. The key points are that every conservation intervention represents an opportunity to increase the knowledge base that is 'conservation biology' by carrying out appropriate monitoring (Sutherland later established www.conservationevidene.com as a central repository for this knowledge). In turn, conservation practitioners should basis their choice of intervention not on 'common sense' but on evidence (which can be found on www.conservationevidence.com).
I have now been working for an organisation which carries out extensive conservation work. Monitoring is not an integral part of this work. In fact I think it is fair to say that it is not a significant part. I want to change this. I have an idea which can change this not just at one site in one organisation but the whole organisation and beyond to other organisations. I will start by considering how to integrate monitoring into all conservation work, from here I will demonstrate that using evidence to inform decisions should follow naturally.
Monitoring is not carried out for the following reasons:
* Practitioners see no need to base conservation interventions on anything other than common sense and are therefore ignorant of the benefits of monitoring.
* Practitioners undervalue the importance of monitoring
* Practitioners are forced to chose between monitoring and implementing conservation interventions (I think it is human to view monitoring as a 'waste of resources' under these conditions) and chose implementing interventions
* Funding does not extend long enough for meaningful monitoring, this is a common problem as, even where funding exists specifically for monitoring, it normally expires after 3 or 5 years.
I have designed a method of monitoring which will primarily address the last issue but in doing so will raise the profile of monitoring within the organisation and will therefore address the first three issues. I will now outline my monitoring design:
* I will partner conservation organisations with schools, specifically sixth form Biology teachers
* I will work with organisations carrying out conservation interventions to highlight where they might benefit from monitoring their work
* I will design a monitoring program including statistical analysis to monitor this work over a period of 10 years (or more depending on the project)
* I will work with sixth form Biology teachers, providing this monitoring program which can form the basis of the students' coursework whilst students study and monitor succession etc in the field. Students
will also have the opportunity to publish the results of their monitoring via conservationevidence.com (provided my program was sufficiently well designed and followed). Students will also be able to use this monitoring work as the basis of their John Muir Award (http://www.jmt.org/jmaward-
* Successive A level classes can return to repeat the monitoring year after year to build up a long term data set.
This relationship between schools and conservation organisations will have the following benefits for each party. Where A level students carried out monitoring (including establishing appropriate controls) as a part of their studies then the awareness of monitoring work within the organisation will be increased. Where students present their findings to the staff of the conservation organisation (as well as publishing them online) then I hope that individuals will be forced to recognise the opportunities that they had missed, opportunities which
had been taken by 16 and 17 years olds, opportunities they were capable of taking themselves. In this way I hope that these monitoring projects will result in the relevant staff integrating monitoring work into
their own job. Moreover, I would like to make such monitoring trips an annual event with the school, a part of the curriculum. Where this is achieved and A level students return year after year then long term data sets will be collected at little or no cost to the conservation organisation. These are the benefits of this partnership which will accrue to Conservation Evidence and the conservation organisations.
Students, and therefore schools, will also benefit from this partnership. They will learn about the design of scientific experiments in the field and be able to discuss how the project they are involved with could be improved. They will have an insight into real conservation and ecology work which may help them decide whether this was a subject they wished to pursue at university. They will be published online which will, presumably, strengthen their university application and they could gain a John Muir award whilst carrying out
their monitoring work.
I anticipate objection on the grounds that 'A level students can't carry out real science, they are not skilled enough'. I believe that this objection does not withstand scrutiny. ConservationEvidence.com was established with the aim of allowing conservation practitioners to publish the results of their own monitoring. Many of these practitioners will not have studied science at university and many will not have studied biology at university. If conservation practitioners can carry out appropriate monitoring then so can A level students.
I am currently an unpaid 'people engagement' intern with an organisation which carries out conservation work. I have created a monitoring plan (including statistical analysis) to offer to schools which will assess the effect of a valley mire restoration intervention. More specifically, the effect of damming ditches on the
time taken for the ditch to fill in and slow water flow off the mire will be investigated. Ultimately, I want to turn this project into paid employment. If you can help me achieve this or have any constructive feedback then please let me know.
Thank you
Iain Dummett
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