Proposal for a monitoring and alert system for management of protected areas: The case of Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park (Almería, Spain)

Abstract

Oyarzabal,  M.,  Oyonarte,  C.,  Giorno,  A.  (2008).  Proposal  for  a  monitoring  and  alert  system  for  management  of  protected areas: The case of Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park (Almería, Spain). Ecosistemas 17(3):98-107.

The majority of protected areas in the world lack monitoring and alert systems with management impact. This work proposes, using Cabo de Gata-Níjar  Natural  Park  (Almería,  Spain)  as  a  reference,  potential  applications  of  a  monitoring  system  originally  developed  for  agronomic purposes.  The  system  is  based  on  the  most  modern  remote  sensing  technology.  Specifically  we  propose  the  characterization  of  the functioning  of  the  vegetation  of  the  Park  from  a  historical  context,  the  spatially  explicit  description  of  the  heterogeneity  and  the  temporal tendency of the functioning of the vegetation, the application of an early alert system for detection of ecosystem changes, and the evaluation of  the  appropriateness  of  the  Park  in  terms  of  the  functioning  of  its  vegetation.  The  system  proposed  generates  monthly  information  for managers and could be applied to terrestrial protected areas.