Locally based monitoring is typically undertaken in areas in which communities have a close attachment to their natural resource base. We present a summary of work to develop a theoretical and practical understanding of locally based monitoring and we outline tests of this approach in research and practice over the past 20 years. Our tests show that locally based monitoring delivers credible data at local scale independent of external experts and can be used to inform local and national decision making within a short timeframe. We believe that monitoring conducted by and anchored in communities will gain in importance where scientist-led monitoring is sparse or too expensive to sustain and for ecosystem attributes in cases in which remote sensing cannot provide credible data. The spread of smartphone technology and online portals will further enhance the importance and usefulness of this discipline.

中文翻译：

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本地环境监测的概念、实践、应用和结果

本地监测通常在社区与其自然资源基础密切相关的地区进行。我们提供了一份工作总结，以建立对本地监测的理论和实践理解，并概述了过去 20 年来这种方法在研究和实践中的测试。我们的测试表明，基于本地的监测可在本地范围内提供独立于外部专家的可靠数据，并可用于在短时间内为地方和国家决策提供信息。我们相信，在科学家主导的监测稀少或成本太高而无法维持的情况下，以及在遥感无法提供可靠数据的情况下，对生态系统属性的监测将变得越来越重要。