Learning from Research

Citizen Science-based Monitoring of Agricultural Biodiversity Tool

This tool aims to facilitate the voluntary participation of farmers and possibly other stakeholders who will be motivated to document biodiversity indicators on farms, be mindful of nature and actively promote biodiversity through agriculture.

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Output Description

MonViA's development and implementation of a Citizen Science-based Monitoring tool aims to facilitate the voluntary participation of farmers and other rural actors, such as beekeepers, hunters and gardeners. The participating actors are supported scientifically and are provided animal and plant profiles to evaluate their observations. This activity is foreseen for the long-term monitoring of the entire area of Germany. However, the individual components will initially be developed in a three-year pilot phase and tested in selected regions and participants. The potential of Citizen Science-based methods is significant because: 

  • They can increase data about target species/ indicator groups in agricultural landscapes, 
  • They benefit from farmers and rural actors’ willingness to engage with biodiversity, and 
  • They raise awareness on the relationship between biodiversity and  agricultural landscapes

Currently, a wild bee monitoring project is underway. The aim is to create a database on the status and development of wild bees in agricultural landscapes at the national level by integrating volunteers in monitoring activities using non-lethal sampling approaches. Results are reported through a national wild bee indicator. 

When fully deployed, the tool will have five different modules: 

  • Arable weeds 
  • Wild and Honeybee monitoring 
  • Indicator species 
  • Conspicuous beneficial organisms and pests 

Technology development 

This tool works in parallel and complements the activities in the other two tools of MonViA. A module on ‘Arable weeds’ complements the `arable plant monitoring' in the ‘agricultural biodiversity trend monitoring tool’. In this module, farmers are invited to survey arable weeds in their fields. For this citizen science approach, a set of smartphone apps for plant identification will be used and compared to each other (e.g. Flora Incognita or Pl@ntNet) to help farmers identify arable plants and submit these data to the national monitoring program.

Another citizen science module is being set up and linked to the digital platform for wild and honeybee monitoring. A bee recognition app is developed to collect location-related data on wild and honeybees with the potential of linking app data on floral occurrences and phenology. By using smartphones, young and adult citizens can actively learn and contribute to wild and honeybee research.

The module ‘Monitoring of conspicuous beneficial insects and pests’ aims to develop and offer simple methods that non-scientists can also implement to record these organisms. ‘Beneficial insects’ is a sub-module. The occurrence of selected conspicuous beneficial insects (e.g. hoverflies, ladybirds and predatory bugs) will be recorded on ‘show plants’ (e.g. Apiaceae, Asteraceae, certain shrub species). Also, at the edge of fields, particular crops, or allotments at certain season in hedges. Other straightforward survey methods (e.g. non-destructive beating samples, sweep net samples, or corrugated cardboard attachment on trees) should be used. The first phase will focus on the following target groups: farmers, organised allotment gardeners and owners of orchard meadows. The aim is to establish a public information network (based on media science) and develop a web module for data collection, including an evaluation routine.

Relevance for monitoring and evaluation of the CAP

Data collection for monitoring and evaluation: Citizen Science-based methods are innovative and have tremendous potential in monitoring and evaluation for various reasons. First, if properly conducted, Citizen Science methods can yield a tremendous amount of monitoring data at a very low cost that may outweigh minor quality issues. Second, they establish synergies in data collection and monitoring. Third, Citizen Science methods promote a dialogue between society, scientific establishments and policymakers, which may prove beneficial for monitoring and evaluation due to new ideas, suggestions, hints, etc. Besides these monitoring and evaluation specific benefits, citizen science-based involvement raises awareness for nature conservation and empowers citizens to participate in the policy design processes.   

Citizen Science-based methods are not new in the evaluation of agricultural impacts on the environment. Bird Watching and conservation NGOs’ volunteers carry out essential data collection for the Farmland Bird Index in many Member States. However, the involvement of farmers and other stakeholders like beekeepers is a relatively new concept. The measure's success will depend on the farmers’ willingness to participate and the readiness of the project to support and continuously motivate the volunteers. 

Relevance of the output per CAP Objectives

  • Specific Objective 6 - Preserve landscape and biodiversity
  • Specific Objective 9 - Protect food and health quality

Additional output information

Data collection systems used:

  • Ad-hoc data collection

Type of output:

  • New / improved data for M&E
  • Monitoring system / tool
  • Methodology

Associated evaluation approaches:

  • Desk research
  • Data analysis
  • Impact evaluation ex post

Spatial scale:

  • Regional (landscape level)
  • Naitonal

Project information

Moniva Logo

Monitoring of Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes 

The purpose of MonVia is to complement the national conservation monitoring schemes in Germany and to address the following questions:

  • How does biological diversity develop on open landscapes under the influence of agricultural production, land use and agricultural structural changes? 
  • How do changes in biological diversity impact the performance ability and stability of agricultural production systems? 
  • How do agricultural and environmental measures affect farmland biodiversity, and how can this knowledge support the design of measures in the future? 

MonViA monitors the quality and diversity of habitats and the status of different functional groups of organisms (pollinators, pests, beneficial organisms and soil fauna) that are particularly important for the performance of agricultural production systems. Trend monitoring and question-based monitoring are in a complete one-to-one mapping in the sense that each monitoring activity is designed to respond to one question about the effectiveness of current and future agricultural measures. For example, long-term monitoring of land use and landscape structures addresses questions concerning agri-environmental measures' effectiveness in habitat diversity.  

Project’s timeframe: 2019 – 2023

Contacts of project holder: Dr Petra Dieker, Thuenen Institute of Biodiversity (petra.dieker@thuenen.de)  

Website: MonViA: https://www.agrarmonitoring-monvia.de/en/  

MonViA overview: https://www.thuenen.de/en/cross-institutional-projects/monitoring-of-farmland-biodiversity-in-germany/  

Territorial coverage: Germany

Ressources