Monitoring System Implemented in the Project
IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation
Experimental monitoring system
Visitors in nearby trail
IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation
The experimental monitoring system consists of a set of parameters to track the behaviour of the species, visitor mobility practices, and risk detection:
- GPS transmitters: they are programmed for data collection and with a download scheduling; there is a zoning around the nest.
- Axis Station software: Axis Loitering Guard tracks moving objects and triggers alerts (e.g. a user exists the trail for x amount of time), sound alerts, and notifications when a threshold is exceeded. Axis Fend Guard detects interaction events (e.g. the bird leaves the next, two users leave the trail).
- Alerts for potential mortality, potential territory expulsion, absences at the nest, users near the nest, and noise thresholds.
- Other data related to trail usage by user type and the Bonelli’s eagle breeding process.
- Annual reports on raptor spatial mobility, semi-annual reports on interactions and critical events.
It is essential to count on a simple-to-use software programmed with the desired parameters. It is fundamental to make the parameters as relevant as possible to the specific monitoring needs, and as concise as possible so that park managers are able to do a proper follow-up and respond to any alerts.
It should be noted that certain situations involving wildlife cannot be controlled. For example, in our case, we faced the reproduction failure of the pair of Bonelli's eagles, which partly modified the monitoring objective.
Although the use of a more sophisticated alert management software based on artificial intelligence is being explored, a simple software such as Axis Station can do the trick to start developing a functioning monitoring programme that notifies critical risk events. Processes and procedures for pre-alert management and data collection and analysis need to be periodically optimised based on the lessons learned during the process.