Researchers create “one-stop shop” for effective monitoring of Nature-based Solutions
From the UK’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan to the Biodiversity Monitoring Framework agreed at COP16, there is an increasing recognition that nature and biodiversity projects require better monitoring if they are to be successful. But gathering the right data can prove challenging, leading to uncertainty about which projects are having the best impact. Today, a team of researchers at the Nature-based Solutions Initiative, University of Oxford have published a framework in Ecological Solutions & Evidence which they say could significantly help.
“Our study tackles the question of 'How can we monitor biodiversity?' which is now critical to NbS and a priority focus globally since the Global Biodiversity Framework was agreed at COP15,” explains lead author Dr Emily Warner, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Nature-based Solutions Initiative, University of Oxford. “While there are a few different frameworks for biodiversity monitoring, until now there has been a gap between the methods proposed and the data that is collected on the ground. I see our framework as bridging this gap between the high-level ambitions set by global policy and practitioner needs.”
Bridging this gap is particularly urgent given the increased interest in biodiversity credits, adds Dr Warner.
The team also looked at the possible impact of technological solutions for biodiversity monitoring including AI, remote sensing, acoustic monitoring and environmental DNA. “All have the potential to significantly reduce fieldwork effort and bypass expertise constraints, particularly taxonomic knowledge required to identify more challenging groups of organisms,” says Dr Warner.
To construct their framework, the researchers identified above and below-ground metrics for monitoring the success of Nature-based Solutions and ranked them using a scoring system to assess their informativeness and feasibility. Their work culminated in a searchable database of metrics and their characteristics, aimed at UK practitioners but with wider applicability. “It’s effectively a one-stop shop for effective monitoring of Nature-based Solutions,” says Dr Warner. The database was developed through the Oxford Martin School’s Agile Initiative, a research centre that aims to produce research quickly enough to meet current policy demands.
The database is now used by people working at the forefront of nature restoration and biodiversity credits in the UK, including Ross Johnson, Head of Nature Markets at Wilder Carbon, who comments:
“The Biodiversity & Soil Health Metrics Tool provides a useful framework, enabling objective assessment of ecosystem monitoring techniques which is really useful for nature restoration-focused NbS initiatives, such as Wilder Carbon. The metrics in the tool's inventory capture multiple aspects of biodiversity categorised into function, structure and composition and this holistic representation of ecosystems aligns with Wilder Carbon's whole-ecosystem approach to reestablishing natural processes and ecosystem functioning in our projects.”