A strategic monitoring approach for learning to improve natural infrastructure

Natural infrastructure (NI) development, including ecosystem restoration, is an increasingly popular approach to leverage ecosystem services for sustainable development, climate resilience, and biodiversity conservation goals. Although implementation and planning for these tools is accelerating, there is a critical need for effective post-implementation monitoring to accumulate performance data and evidence for best practices. The complexity and longer time scales associated with NI, compounded by differing disciplinary definitions and concepts of monitoring necessitate a deliberate and strategic approach to monitoring that encompasses different timeframes and objectives. This paper outlines a typology of monitoring classes differentiated by temporal scale, purpose of data collection, the information benefits of monitoring, and the responsible party. Next, we provide a framework and practical guidelines for designing monitoring plans for NI around learning objectives. In particular, we emphasize conducting research and development monitoring, which provides scientifically rigorous evidence for methodological improvement beyond the project scale. Wherever feasible, and where NI tools are relatively new and untested, such monitoring should avoid wasted effort and ensure progress and refinement of methodology and practice over time. Finally, we propose institutional changes that would promote greater adoption of research and development monitoring to increase the evidence base for NI implementation at larger scales.