Community based biodiversity monitoring in Mexico: current status, challenges, and future strategies for collaboration with scientists

An array of social and political actors, from international to local levels, increasingly demand monitoring data on biodiversity and ecosystem functions. As elsewhere, prevalent approaches in Mexico emphasize the collection of scientific data regarding biological indicators, by professionals, for conservation planning, global targets, and biological inquiry. These are complicated, expensive, and dependent on external funding. They also fail to engage with communities, many of whom practice traditional forms of monitoring to manage their local environments and livelihoods. Community-based monitoring, an approach involving collaborations between scientists and communities, has the potential to contribute to sustainable forms of resource use management and as a cost-effective method. Efforts could develop once local rights of use and traditional knowledge systems are recognized, access to information is ensured, and a broad array of relevant environmental and social indicators are included.