Department of Environmental Biology, State University of Leiden, PO Box 9516, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Environ Monit Assess. 1986 Sep;7(2):161-8. doi: 10.1007/BF00398694.
As all environmental programs also programs monitoring the biotic aspects of our environment (dealt with in this article) should contribute to a more effective and efficient environmental policy. These programs have to function therefore (as no other type of environmental information does, according to the authors) as cheap and efficient 'early warning' and 'early control systems', providing decision makers with 'important' and reliable monitoring results.How these monitoring programs should function in the decision making process is illustrated in abstract in this article by a simple control system with feedback (as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3).The monitoring programs dealt with in this article should enable us to detect and forecast changes in the most important biotic aspects of our environment and-by continuous monitoring-to control whether the use of policy instruments has been effective or not in averting or diminishing unwanted changes ('problems').Two options of decision makers with respect to monitoring results are shown (either to disregard unwanted changes as a problem or to accept these changes as a problem and to do something about them). To contribute to an effective and efficient environmental policy monitoring results therefore have to be 'important' and reliable enough to react upon.The question is raised which biotic aspects in our environment are (or have to be considered as) important (because of their own value, as indicators and/or as biotic 'conditions') and how reliable monitoring results can (have to) be obtained.It is discussed how environmentalists could try to make it more difficult for decision makers to duck the problems (by monitoring only important aspects and by using only perfectly clear targets and standards) and how they could try at the same time to make it easier for them to take action (by setting up integrated 'environmental monitoring programs' in order to find out how desired and undesired changes can be influenced). The role of active publicity is stressed in this connection.
由于所有环境规划（本文讨论的是生物方面的环境规划）都应该有助于制定更有效和高效的环境政策。因此，这些规划必须（根据作者的说法，其他类型的环境信息都无法做到）作为廉价且高效的“早期预警”和“早期控制系统”，为决策者提供“重要”和可靠的监测结果。本文通过一个简单的带反馈的控制系统（如图 1、2 和 3 所示），以抽象的方式说明这些监测规划在决策过程中的作用。本文讨论的监测规划应使我们能够检测和预测环境中最重要的生物方面的变化，并通过持续监测，控制政策工具的使用是否有效，以避免或减少不必要的变化（“问题”）。决策者对监测结果有两种选择（要么无视不需要的变化，要么将这些变化视为问题并采取措施）。为了制定有效和高效的环境政策，监测结果必须足够“重要”和可靠，以便做出反应。因此，需要提出一个问题，即在我们的环境中，哪些生物方面是（或应该被视为）重要的（因为它们本身的价值、作为指标和/或作为生物“条件”），以及如何获得可靠的监测结果。本文讨论了环保主义者如何试图使决策者更难回避问题（仅监测重要方面，并使用完全明确的目标和标准），以及如何同时使他们更容易采取行动（通过建立综合的“环境监测规划”，以了解如何影响期望和不期望的变化）。在这方面，强调了积极宣传的作用。
