Hi All,
There has been a very exciting development in the topic of coordination
of regional council biodiversity monitoring data that renders redundant
my project of reporting back on what each region is doing.
What Happened: On the 6 May, representatives from almost all of the
regions attended a Regional Biodiversity Forum Workshop with the express
purpose of identifying what Regions need to monitor to report on
biodiversity policy effectiveness / State of the Environment reporting.
We reviewed the underlying principles that guide NHMS, Matt Baber
presented the Auckland Region's monitoring system, and Shay Dean
presented the Taranaki Region's monitoring system.
Near the end of the workshop we agreed that, while a Region's focus is
not species but rather habitats, the Regions are responsible
understanding and reporting a bigger picture for biodiversity. So the
monitoring system should not be based just on site focused indicators
(as we have done in the past), but rather more general indications of
regional ecosystem integrity and indigenous dominance. This philosophy
is very close to that which drives the NHMS indicators and one that can
be scaled up to contribute information for national reporting on the
state of biodiversity.
From here, we have Bill Lee and Rob Allan looking into the indicators
and methods that Regions can use to monitor biodiversity state and
policy effectiveness. My guess is there will be quite a bit of overlap
with present site-based methods with refinement of where to monitor as
well as perhaps some methods we have yet to try.
My Perspective: I am really excited. The level of concensus reached is
high and puts us on strong footing for inter-regional coordination of
monitoring and information sharing. A number of Regions did not have
representatives at the meeting, and while the meeting did have
ecologists and policy folk, it is naive to believe there is complete
consensus. Possibly there is a strong level of concern from those
whose monitoring systems are site-based response monitoring for
biodiversity outcomes linked to pest management, or where a lot of your
data is site-based inventory. Those of you who know me well know I am
from that camp too. But I think we need not be concerned about our own
favourite patches and monitoring projects, and be more concerned about
the question of "through our activities, have we secured the protection
of the regions biological diversity?". In truth, site-based monitoring
rarely answers that question well. Mind you, site-based monitoring is
the key to good adaptive management and so is a completely legitimate
and necessary part of what we do. I imagine there will be some kind of
balance between adaptive management / research monitoring and State of
the Environment monitoring that each region will need to find and fund.
Regards,
Jim
JAMES LAMBIE | Environmental Scientist - Ecology
DDI 06 9522 845 | M 021 2277 235
Horizons Regional Council | 24 hr freephone 0508 800 800 | www.horizons.govt.nz
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