Community-based monitoring of river health and biodiversity
Year: 2025
Type: report
Abstract: This practical guide supports Indigenous peoples and local communities to monitor the health of their rivers and the biodiversity they support. It links traditional and local knowledge with simple, low-cost scientific methods for assessing river condition. The guide covers visual and sensory assessment of river health, monitoring of small river animals as indicators of water quality, affordable approaches to testing water chemistry and contamination (including nutrients, heavy metals and microbes), and participatory methods for tracking fish health and abundance using catch-per-unit-effort. It also provides questions and tools for documenting traditional and local knowledge, understanding governance of rivers, and interpreting changes over time. Designed for use by community monitors, Indigenous organisations and supporting practitioners, the guide aims to strengthen community-led stewardship, citizen science and rights-based river conservation.
Source: Spiral (Imperial College London)
DOI: 10.25560/125832
Institution: Imperial College London
Language: English
Subfield: Nature and Landscape Conservation
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7126184783