Biodiversity monitoring provides data on species’ population trends and ecosystem health, and enables an analysis of threats and impacts from human interactions and changing environmental conditions. It is an essential conservation tool for appropriately managing a park’s natural resources and offers valuable information on the effectiveness of Protected Area management. Presently there is incomplete data for species in the Caucasus ecoregion, and most of the parks lack the capacity to implement even basic monitoring systems.
CNF supports biodiversity monitoring projects by paying for equipment and studies so the parks have reliable data about the species in the region. Further, in Georgia it has supported in the implementation of a 10-year biodiversity monitoring plan; in Armenia, CNF has sponsored the implementation of a five year plant diversity monitoring program with Institute of Botany.
Over time, our work in the PA’s of Georgia and Armenia has contributed to significant increases in populations which were becoming extinct. Thus, the Caucasian leopard has reappeared in Armenia, where we now count 10 -12 animals. In Armenia, a joint program with WWF to re-introduce red deer has resulted in a population of 37 animals, three of whom are established outside of the breeding centre. Adjacent to Georgia’s Vashlovani PA’s, goitered gazelles from Azerbaijan have successfully established in local plains.