Selection of highly rewarding and high performance indicators

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2.4 Selection of highly rewarding and high performance indicators

Once the indicators relevant to the province and the forest management unit level were selected, highly rewarding indicators were selected using different filters Figure 2. Indicator selection processes to be effective as an assessment tool, Gardner 2010, suggested to proceed with four principle selection criteria, namely: i the espo si e ess of a didate i di ato s to a age e t a tio s; ii the ease ith hi h they can be measured; iii their relevance to changes in the forest condition and biodiversity andor individual target species; and iv the generality with which they can be applied across similar management systems in other landscapes and regions. The process takes into account all these principles and used them as the filters at different stages of the selection process Figure 2. Figure 2 shows the hierarchical approach of indicator selection, which ensures highly productive and rewarding final set of indicators. Figure 2 further illustrates that the Indicators need to be designed and selected in such a way that the required technical expertise, field expertise or laboratory expertise are available and the project is economically feasible cost efficient, technically attainable, and ecologically meaningful. 12 Figure 2: A general framework for selecting highly rewarding indicators for the biodiversity monitoring. Source: Figure adapted from Gardner, 2010 Highly rewarding inidcators Global pool of indicators Initial selection filter: indicator viability  Availability of necessary field expertise  Availability of necessary laboratory expertise  Availability of proven sampling techniques Set of candidate indicators Primary selection filter: cost effectiveness Indicator responsiveness  Sensitivity to management impactdisturbance  Predictability of response to management impact disturbance Cost efficiency  Cost of data collection and processing  Consistency of measurements among sites and time Cost effective indicators of management Secondary selection filter Relevance to biodiversity conservation goals Generality to application 13 Ranking of forest biodiversity indicators by experts Outcome of the ranking exercise Experts are ranking forest biodiversity indicators 14 Selection of indicators relevant to province and FMU level forest biodiversity monitoring system, and selection of highly rewarding high-performance indicators for FMU level forest biodiversity monitoring Panel of experts representing academia universities and research agencies Panel of experts representing government agencies decision makers Panel of experts representing forest management units FMUs, forestry concessions and other forestry professionals at implementing level 15 Group presentation and discussion: Selection of indicators relevant to province and FMU level forest biodiversity monitoring system, and selection of highly rewarding high-performance indicators for FMU level forest biodiversity monitoring 16

3. Results