Spring 2024

Newsletter Archive

Decoding Diversity: Choosing the Right Indicators for Biodiversity Monitoring

Exploring Biodiversity Monitoring Indicators with the Waterton Biosphere Reserve Association

Monitoring biodiversity is important to help us understand the status of biodiversity, as well as effectiveness of conservation and sustainable management activities. But, deciding what to monitor and figuring out which datasets to use to support these indicators can be overwhelming. Over the last few months, we worked with staff and board members from the Waterton Biosphere Reserve Association (WBRA) to help them solve this problem. The Waterton Biosphere Region (WBR) is an internationally recognized biosphere reserve located in the southwest corner of Alberta. We guided participants through a process inspired by The Nature Conservancy's Conservation Action Planning process. This process, including surveys and workshops, resulted in prioritized indicators with corresponding measures which will support the WBRA with future biodiversity monitoring.