Butterfly International
The guidelines production arises from a workshop led by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and Dutch Butterfly Conservation (De Vlinderstichting) with the support of The Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) and the EC FP7 project 'EU BON - Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network, and involving a wide range of collaborating partners from around the world.
The overall objective of this initiative is to enhance the development, uptake and utility of butterfly monitoring at national and global scales, as a means of better tracking change in butterfly distributions and abundances.
Intoduction to the guidelines
The overarching aim of the guidelines is to maximise the utility of butterfly monitoring and enable the development of regional and global butterfly indicators, which will inform invertebrates’ conservation management decisions and policies. These guidelines should make it possible for you to start butterfly monitoring anywhere in the world. They contain a standard set of methodologies that can be applied globally and from which data could be aggregated into a Global Butterfly Indicator. The guidelines standardise three types of butterfly monitoring protocols: transect counts (Pollard walks), fruit bait trapping and supplementary protocols. Each method is explained where, when and how it should be used, including:
-
How to choose the right location and habitat,
-
What to count,
-
How frequent to count,
-
Weather condition,
-
Necessary equipment.
Let's build the Global Butterfly Indicator together!
How you can participate:
Get a free copy of the Global Butterfly Monitoring Guidelines. The guidelines can be downloaded
here.