English abstract

Since 2016 the Research Institute for Nature and Forests (INBO) and Natuurpunt Studie initiated a set of new monitoring schemes for 65 Flemish an European priority species. Each monitoring scheme consists of a fixed set of locations in which one ore more species are counted based on a standardized protocol. We follow a citizen-science approach: volunteers can select locations and import their counts in the web-portal meetnetten.be. After three years of monitoring we can conclude that this is a successful approach. The targets for the number of locations to be counted, were achieved for almost all monitoring schemes. In total volunteers imported approximately 4700 counts in meetnetten.be.

Progress was also made for data management, data analysis and reporting. For most monitoring schemes count data can be imported in meetnetten.be. But we also developed apps for mobile import of count data. Data will be made accessible through a datawarehouse and through publication on GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility). We also started with the analysis of population trends and developed an approach to present trends in a consistent and comprehensible way. Finally we also created a communication plan for reporting monitoring results.