The Index of Biological Integrity or IBI of all FAPBM-funded PAs increased from 2.52 to 2.59 in 2021 (on a scale of 1 to 5). This improvement is the result of a decrease in the level of threats in the protected areas and conservation actions by the managers. In the MNP network, a patrol reform was initiated in 2020: Instead of counting the number of squares visited during patrol missions, the monitoring effort focused on pressure areas, with the number monitored as the achievement indicator. Previously, in 2019, the patrol achievement indicator was the number of squares visited (a square being 250mx250m) in the protected area. Since 2020, this indicator has become the number of targets monitored.
The system is simple: the targets are the areas under pressure and threats. As soon as a fire or logging activity or other types of pressures in the protected area is announced by the communities and/or via satellite image and so on, the patrollers include this area in their mission planning. This is a slight technical modification, but its effectiveness was proven in 2021 with a decrease in offenses within the protected areas. Patrols are more effective because pressures are dealt with directly. Very positive results in the management of pressures (logging and fires) and threats have begun to be observed.
Surveillance and alerting by remote sensing data (satellite images, drones, GLAD, …) must be put in place beforehand for more effective interventions, so that patrols could be sent directly to these areas.
