Ecological and biodiversity-based monitoring has been marked by an appalling lack of effectiveness and lack of success in Australia for more than 40 years, despite the billions of dollars that are invested in biodiversity conservation annually. What can be done to rectify this situation? This book tackles many aspects of the problem of biodiversity monitoring. It arose from a major workshop held at The Australian National University in February 2011, attended by leaders in the science, policy-making and management arenas of biodiversity conservation. The diversity of participants was deliberate – successful biodiversity monitoring is dependent on partnerships among people with different kinds of expertise. Chapter contributors examine what has led to successful monitoring, the key problems with biodiversity monitoring and practical solutions to those problems. By capturing critical insights into successes, failures and solutions, the authors provide high-level guidance for important initiatives such as the National Biodiversity Strategy, similar kinds of conservation initiatives in state government agencies, as well as non-government organisations that aim to improve conservation outcomes in Australia. Ultimately, the authors hope to considerably improve the quality and effectiveness of biodiversity monitoring in Australia, and to arrest the decline of biodiversity.

Annotation Long-term ecological data are critical for informing long-term trends in biodiversity and trends in environmental change. The Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) is a major initiative of the Australian Government and one of its key areas of investment is to provide funding for a network of long-term ecological research plots around Australia (LTERN). This book highlights some of the temporal changes in the environment and/or in biodiversity that have occurred in different ecosystems, ranging from tropical rainforests, wet eucalypt forests and alpine regions through to rangelands and deserts. Many important trends and changes are documented and they often provide new insights that were previously poorly understood or unknown. These data are precisely the kinds of data so desperately needed to better quantify the temporal trajectories in the environment and biodiversity in Australia.

This report evaluates Australia's progress in reducing the pollution burden, improving natural resource management, integrating environmental and economic policies, and strengthening international co-operation.