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SMART Wildlife Monitoring System
Monitoring and evaluating wildlife for improved protected area managemen
An urgent need for a SMART system With numerous species and habitats in decline even within existing protected areas, effective monitoring, law enforcement and management has never been so critical to the survival of the wildlife and the preservation of biodiversity. There are a number of challenges to protecting and managing biodiversity within and outside protected areas with the enforcement of the basic regulations designed to protect wildlife, habitat and the prevention of poaching often hampered by poor management and specifically by weak law enforcement capacity. There is an urgent need to integrate the various systems being used for protected area
SMART systems:
management at various degrees into a improved standardised monitoring and evaluation system which is modular and open-source with good documentation across a broad range of languages to enable expansion and adaptation to meet specific site level needs
• Low cost tool with field protocols
in the future around the globe. This tool will build upon the experience of existing systems
• Institutionalized field-based
needed to deliver a highly functioning, sustainable industry wider system.
that have delivered the basic functionality without achieving the broad adoption that is
wildlife monitoring training package for instructors support
• Significant improvement in monitoring effort, quality and management effectiveness
• Visual maps for easy interpretation
© ZSL
Example of a patrol intensity map - KIFARU system
SMART system – proof of concept Conservation tools underpinned by robust protocols and capacity-building initiatives, to help management agencies improve their effectiveness, increase efficiency and promote transparency are central to effective conservation. There currently exists several purpose-built law enforcement and monitoring systems for wildlife conservation. These systems have proved indispensable for management where they have been setup with adequate training and monitoring resources. The ZSL KIFARU system is a low cost tool with field protocols, refined over a period of ten-years and extensively being used in Kenya and in Nepal for rhino monitoring, law enforcement and metapopulation management. M-STrIPES is being implemented in India as part of the National Tiger Conservation Programme and is aimed at addressing the integration of law enforcement and ecological monitoring to enable informed decision making within an adaptive management framework.
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The Zoological Society of London (ZSL), founded in 1826, is a world-renowned centre of excellence for conservation science and applied conservation (registered charity in England and Wales). ZSL’s Mission is to promote and achieve the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. This is realised by carrying 18 out field conservation and research in over 50 countries across the globe, carrying out original scientific research at our Institute of Zoology, and through education and awareness at our two zoos, ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, inspiring people to take conservation action.