It is standard practice to compare the status of performance indicators between restoration and reference sites to monitor restoration progress and demonstrate restoration success. However, standard methods for defining the reference ecosystem, selecting reference sites, and measuring success are surprisingly lacking.
This practical guidance note provides support to:
- help determine the appropriate target reference ecosystem(s) within which reference sites should be located
- decide how many reference sites should be established to determine reliable performance indicator benchmark values
- show how the data collected from reference and restoration sites should be used to measure restoration success.