Monitoring Program Design - Coastal Lagoons: Ecosystem Processes and Modeling for Sustainable Use and Development - page 305

treated as separate activities, but monitoring also should be regarded as a research
activity. The basic difference between monitoring and research is already included
in the definition of monitoring. Monitoring is a research activity that has three
important features: “prearranged schedule,” “repetitive observing,” and “compa-
rable methodologies.”

7.1.2 O BJECTIVES OF E NVIRONMENTAL M ONITORING

Monitoring is not simply a scientific exercise —it is also a management tool. It
is a crucial element in environmental decision support systems. Basically, the
purpose of monitoring is to provide information that is needed by decision
makers. The information desired by decision makers should be identified in the
earlier stages of the decision support system, corresponding to the top box in
Figure 7.1 .
Monitoring usually serves the purpose of generating information needed to solve
an environment-related problem. Furthermore, monitoring must be designed to fulfill
the needs expressed in the lower portion of Figure 7.1; these needs relate to assess-
ment of results and ultimate decision making. Further assessment of the effects of
implementation of decisions forms a feedback loop, where improvements in moni-
toring programs are then identified. Information should be presented in such a way
that it can be incorporated into decision making/implementation. Assessment must
therefore reflect the ultimate needs of decision makers.
Decision-making requirements are the driving forces behind monitoring program
design as explained in Chapter 8. These requirements may include one or more of
the following: information on the state of the environment, natural and anthropogenic
pressures, and trend analysis including possibly comparison with background values
or other locations. It is therefore important that decision makers are involved in the
monitoring program development process. The decision makers have the responsi-
bility of defining clear, measurable goals and objectives.
Also, because long-term series of regular measurements are crucial for modeling
( see Chapter 6 for details) and assessment, repetitive measurements of main param-
eters should be continued for a long period of time. Good decisions can only be
made on the basis of long-term information.

7.1.3 S OME E XAMPLES OF C URRENT M ONITORING P ROGRAMS

Perhaps the oldest marine monitoring program is related to biological resource
assessment, including monitoring of commercial fish species in the North Atlantic
and adjacent marine waters. Regular observations began under the International
Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in the early 1900s and are still
ongoing.
In the 1960s, when the effects of pollution started to become apparent, ICES
expanded its efforts to advise on the development of marine environmental moni-
toring programs. 2 Advice has been utilized by commissions representing different
water bodies (Baltic Sea, North Sea, Arctic seas, etc.).