Biodiversity monitoring

Monitoring provides the information needed to understand where M. nigra populations are, if they are increasing, stabilising or declining and whether threats are changing. Knowing this will help identify the appropriate course of conservation action to take.

Currently, there is a lack of data with regards to the species, with the majority of surveys limited to a single area resulting in generalised assumptions about regional trends. Whilst valuable, this data is limited in its capacity to inform conservation strategies that are relevant across their entire range. Consequently, there remains a strong incentive for a regional assessment of M. nigra.

Following a pilot study in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, we are now surveying the entire province using the latest in camera trapping technology and remote sensing techniques. This survey will serve as a definitive baseline for the status of the population and its threats, and provide the template on which future surveys can be based allowing us to track the population and its threats over time.