MODULE 7.

Monitoring

This section will be covered in more detail in another core learning program on monitoring and
protection.

SMART Field Patrolling and Monitoring

The current, most advanced model offered is SMART patrolling (see

http://smartconservationsoftware.org/). SMART (Spatial Monitoring And Reporting Tool), is designed to
measure, evaluate and improve the effectiveness of wildlife law enforcement patrols. The information
collected during the patrols can be fed-back to improve site-based conservation activities and strategic
planning.

SMART is designed to provide law-enforcement patrol teams better techniques, skills, and knowledge to
overcome the increasingly sophisticated strategies used by poachers. It employs a combination of
software, best practices, and capacity building to empower protected areas staff to protect wildlife and
improve protected areas management.

SMART is designed to be cost-effective, adaptive, and intuitive, but has the capability of advanced
analysis and reporting functions than other monitoring technologies now in use. It is open source and
non-proprietary, but will be supported by a long-term business plan, including provision for continued
development and modification to meet the evolving needs of users. It will also be possible to translate
SMART into relevant languages of the end-users.

Community-based Monitoring

Community-based monitoring and anti-poaching units can be an effective strategy to get local
community groups engaged in conservation, especially in corridors and buffer zones.

Structured Surveys

Scientific monitoring is essential to track the population parameters, such as population size, growth
rates, demographics, habitat occupancy and use, and genetics. Camera trap and grid-based surveys at
landscape scales have been used to determine habitat occupancy and estimate population size,
especially to assess progress towards the global goal of doubling tiger numbers. There are several
Spatially Explicit Capture-Recapture models available, such as DENSITY and SPACECAP to analyze data.

Genetic studies using fecal DNA have been now widely used to determine the genetic variability of tiger
populations, and determine the impacts and consequences of population isolation on the genetic
variability of tigers and functionality of corridors.