Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...

Ensuring the Long-term Conservation of Ecosystems: The Role of Monitoring
Databases
Grant Hopcraft
Serengeti GIS and Database Center, Frankfurt Zoological Society, Box 14935, Arusha, Tanzania.
Email: granthopcraft@fzs.org
Abstract
Compiling and using information about protected areas is critical to long-term conservation
management. Information provides institutional memory, which enables protected areas to critically
investigate processes and answer management questions independently. Furthermore, routine
collection of information about a protected area highlights priorities and facilitates the wise use
of resources. In addition, information collected by protected areas contributes to understanding
regional processes and ultimately supports conservation efforts in the political arena by providing a
factual backbone on which assertions and decisions are made. Ideally, a monitoring program for a
protected area should reflect the objectives established in the General Management Plan (which also
documents the threats the protected area faces). Data can be expensive and tedious to collect; it is
important to carefully balance the costs and effort involved in collecting data against its relevance.
Forming links to other databases avoids the expense of duplication and strengthens the database’s
utility through information sharing. Furthermore, devising ways to include historical data makes
new databases immediately useful and additionally strengthens a database. Cataloguing data sources
(i.e. metadata) is exceptionally important, as it can save time with editing and can provide indices
of data quality. Maintaining links with the original source of the data also facilitates long-term
collaborations with other institutions. The Internet provides the largest resource of freely available
data and is fundamental for acquiring useful information for park management. Maintaining the
flow of information between field staff, managers and donors is important since it boosts morale,
provides solidarity, and assists in raising additional funds. There is a tendency for over ambitious
projects to become unmanageable and lead to failure. For a database to work it must start very
simply and develop with the protected area, growing to fill the niche as it is required.
What is a Database?
The word “data” generally compels peoples’ eyes to glaze with images of long strings of numbers
and statistics, but this should not be the case. Data is simply information and a database is only a
way of storing and managing that information. A computerized database enables normal people to
retrieve and analyze information with powers of recall that are usually reserved for geniuses. In a
nutshell, a database enables a user to quickly and efficiently query large and often cumbersome data
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