Monitoring Plans & Data Collection

MPA planning or updating your plan provides an opportunity to identify (or review) indicators that will be monitored over time to measure your progress and success. This is often done through a monitoring component of a management plan. In some cases, indicators for achievement of outcomes/objectives are the only thing monitored (e.g., improved reef health, increased target fish populations). However, these outcomes often take more robust monitoring methods (e.g., ecological or socio-economic field assessments) over long periods of time to demonstrate changes. They may not provide an understanding of what progress is being made that can lead to those outcomes (e.g., management plan developed with clear objectives, reduction of key threats). 

To understand progress toward, or barriers to, long-term outcomes, it’s important to identify and monitor key factors over shorter periods of time. Progress indicators can help track management capacity or actions that can support long-term outcomes such as: 

• documenting information on budgets, spending, or patrolling activities, 

• environmental compliance information, 

• staff training activities, 

• communications and outreach, 

• threat reduction, or implementation of good management practices 

A combination of short and mid-term progress indicators and long-term outcome indicators can be useful during adaptive management and improve considerations of management effectiveness in day-to-day activities. More data is not always better however. All data collected should ultimately be useful for decision-making or for demonstrating progress toward site objectives. 

Methods to track each indicator will need to first be identified as well as how often it will be tracked and by whom. 

It’s important to use the same methods for data collection over time to ensure data can be compared, unless data prove inappropriate for understanding effectiveness of the site. Monitoring methods can take many forms depending on capacity and resources available. For example, robust quantitative data can be collected to understand baseline conditions and changes of time toward desired outcomes of the natural environment (e.g., resource conditions) and socio-economic systems (e.g., knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions, resource dependence). However, sites with fewer resources can plan for ways to measure progress and success. For example, focus group discussions with key stakeholders about perceived changes may provide adequate information for management to understand progress toward desired outcomes. Part of implementation includes ongoing monitoring or tracking of the indicators you identified during planning.