Resources

A new resource for Community-Based Biodiversity Monitoring

In the face of escalating biodiversity loss and the urgent need for sustainable conservation practices, the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPs & LCs) has never been more critical. To ensure that their actions are recognised and supported in national and international policy, a new guide offers a resource to support IPs and LCs in using new and innovative biodiversity monitoring techniques.  

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities have been monitoring the biodiversity on their lands since time immemorial. They have an in-depth understanding of the unique flora and fauna on their territories, as well as the threats that are facing them. However, this knowledge is often held as stories, observations, songs or chants, and is often overlooked in the development of biodiversity policy. 

Recognizing this, “Introduction to Community-Based Environmental Monitoring,” offers a new resource for IPs and LCs and those working with them to support new forms of biodiversity monitoring. Produced as part of the Transformative Pathways project, the guide serves as a tool for communities to assert their land rights and participate more actively in conservation dialogues. By generating and managing their own environmental data, communities can strengthen their positions in negotiations with governments and international bodies. 

Maximising ranger-collected data to tackle elephant poaching.

ICCS postdoc Tim Kuiper and Professor E.J. Milner-Gulland partnered with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to help tackle elephant poaching through leveraging poaching data collected by wildlife rangers. Ranger detections of elephant carcasses have immense value for tackling poaching – helping park managers track changes in poaching, and strategically direct and measure the performance of different antipoaching strategies. In late 2020, Tim was awarded a Fellowship from the Oxford Policy Engagement Network to translate his PhD research into action in Zimbabwe. Tim’s PhD assessed the reliability of ranger-collected data and how these data were used by park managers in the Zambezi Valley. Learn more about this research here .

The policy brief co-developed with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority was endorsed by high level management within the organisation, and in late 2022 local partners in Zimbabwe began workshops with ZPWMA staff to start the process of implementing the policy guidelines.