Signs of Healthy Parks (SHP) provides a framework for systematic and integrated ecological monitoring of the health of the state’s ecosystems.

The SHP aims to:

• Provide a framework for park managers to assess the status and trends in the ecological health of parks, the threatening processes affecting priority park values and the effectiveness of management actions
• Provide early warnings of emerging threats to parks
• Enable the application of scientific monitoring information to integrate into management and decision making as part of adaptive management
• Provide a strong evidence base for evaluating and reporting on how objectives are being met at the park, ecosystem scale and parks network scale
• Foster partnerships and collaborative projects to design, implement and evaluate monitoring programs.

SHP is consistent with Victorian and Australian monitoring frameworks such as the Headline Indicators for the Victorian Government Land and Biodiversity Whitepaper and the Invasive Species Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.

SHP focuses on management objectives. It complements other monitoring programs for fire, threatened species and statewide forest monitoring. The results from monitoring programs inform our State of the Parks reporting.

Monitoring plans developed under SHP identify the key questions that need to be answered regarding the condition of park assets and the effectiveness of management programs. The plans then details the tools and techniques that should be used to answer these questions.

Monitoring protocols for a range of park assets and threats are used to ensure consistent monitoring standards are applied.

Related documents

• Signs of Healthy Parks fact sheet