Introduction to the guidance manual
23. The generic guidance - history of development
23.1 Agency and JNCC Initiatives
Since 1998, a substantial body of work has been undertaken to
refine some of the concepts set out in A statement on common
standards for monitoring designated sites and to add the
supporting detail necessary to translate the published statement
into a working system for site monitoring. This work is included
among the references at the end of the chapter.
However, as this work developed it became apparent that there
was a danger of differences in approach evolving, and that this
could lead to inconsistency in assessment and reporting across the
UK. For this reason, it was decided to develop UK-wide
guidance.
23.2 UK Guidance
As a result of the need to develop UK-wide guidance a major
project was initiated in 2000, with fourteen specialist groups
comprising staff from the country agencies and JNCC given the
following tasks:
- to prepare UK guidance on the setting of conservation
objectives which define favourable condition for interest features
on designated sites. Guidance should include the selection of
attributes for assessing feature condition and (where possible)
appropriate target values;
- to provide guidance on how to assess feature condition against
the conservation objectives following monitoring;
- to suggest suitable field methods for the monitoring of feature
condition.
23.3 Principles
Several principles were established for the preparation of the
UK guidance:
- it must comply with A Statement on common standards for
monitoring designated sites;
- it should, so far as possible, build on and refine the previous
developmental work carried out by the country agencies;
- it should acknowledge the ecological/geographical variation of
features across the UK, and should accommodate, the different
practices adopted by the various country agencies, for the
practical monitoring of features on sites;
- it should accommodate the natural variation inherent in habitat
features;
- it should be field-tested prior to being finalised;
- due consideration should be given to the skills and expertise
levels it is reasonable to expect of operational staff undertaking
monitoring and condition assessments;
- the preparation of guidance should include quality assurance /
a reality check using experienced local staff and specialists to
ensure that the guidance is fully appropriate and that assessments
can be reliable and consistent.
23.4 Co-ordination
The work of the specialist groups has been co-ordinated by
JNCC to ensure that a consistent approach is adopted across all
interest features and that liaison between groups is undertaken
where necessary. The newly-established Inter-Agency Monitoring
Group (IAMG) maintained an overview of progress and provided fora
for discussion of cross-cutting issues.
The preparation of guidance by each group has been a lengthy
and iterative process, incorporating review by specialists,
feedback from field testing, and quality assurance by JNCC.
Evolving thinking on issues such as local distinctiveness and
species monitoring is being incorporated into the guidance.
Guidance was accepted for dissemination when it had been considered
and endorsed by the Chief Scientists' Group.