Ecological monitoring as a conservation management tool: the conceptual basis and structure of the Ecological Monitoring Programme for Costa Rica?s Protected Areas and Biological Corridors (PROMEC-CR)

1 tab. 31 ref.PROMEC-CR es implementado por el Sistema Nacional de ?reas de Conservaci?n del Ministerio del Ambiente,Energ?a y Telecomunicaciones. En su primera fase,el Programa evaluar? el estado de conservaci?n de la biodiversidad a escala nacional, a trav?s de tres indicadores enfocados en la extensi?n y el grado de fragmentaci?n de la cobertura de ecosistemas naturales y sus tasas de cambio, as? como en la efectividad de manejo de las ?reas protegidas. A la vez, se desarrollar?n y probar?n seis indicadores adicionales potenciales que ofrezcan una evaluaci?n m?s integral de la biodiversidad, abarcando aspectos claves de los corredores biol?gicos, grupos faun?sticos y din?mica de los bosques. La amenaza grave que representa el cambio clim?tico ser? monitoreada directamente por un indicador y como componente expl?cito de todos los dem?s. The PROMEC-CR ... is being implemented by the National System of Conservation Areas of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunication. In its first phase, the Program will evaluate the conservation status of biodiversity at the national scale through three indicators focusing on, respectively, cover and fragmentation of natural ecosystems and their rates of change, and the effectiveness of protected areas management. At the same time, six additional indicators will be developed and tested, these providing a more integral evaluation of biodiversity covering key aspects of biological corridors, fauna groups and forest dynamics. The grave threat raised by climate change will be monitored directly by one indicator and as an explicit component of the monitoring of all the others