Guidelines for Monitoring Biodiversity in Social-Ecological Landscapes

Despite playing an essential role in safeguarding food security, livelihoods, and human well-being, biodiversity is in precipitous decline globally with devastating social, environmental, and economic impacts (Pörtner et al. 2023). Thus, incorporating biodiversity into integrated landscape management strategies is crucial for reconciling conservation and livelihoods in multifunctional landscapes. However, doing so can be challenging in context of limited resources, competing land demand, land tenure issues, lack of institutional capacity, socioeconomic factors, and livelihood dependency on natural resources. Moreover, climate change impacts, lack of awareness about the value of biodiversity, insufficient stakeholder engagement, and inadequate community involvement in decision-making processes can impede the incorporation of biodiversity considerations into landscape management strategies. Significant concerns exist that the international conservation targets set for 2030 will not be met (Palomo et al. 2024).

The guidelines combine conventional scientific studies at multiple scales with the participation of local communities and emphasize local perceptions, knowledge, and experiences in natural resource management. They are divided into two main sections: the conventional biophysical subregional scale approach (district, large watershed) and a more participatory-minded section devoted to a participatory and citizen science approach at the local scale.

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