Community bird monitors: training and participation in research projects.

Abstract

A community monitor is a person who has knowledge of the environment in which they live and has developed technical and scientific skills for environmental conservation. Although his experience is recognized by different actors, his training and participation in investigations is not completely clear. This work contributes to understand the training and research profiles of community monitors in three Protected Natural Areas located in two states of Mexico. Through semi-structured interviews, we found that the training is similar and begins by associating with national entities; however, its development is linked to personal characteristics and the context. We propose the convenience of a coordinated management to assess the contributions of community monitors.