How is monitoring information collected?

Information for making a condition assessment is collected in a number of ways. The majority of features are monitored and assessed by Scottish Natural Heritage staff, including both Area Officers and dedicated Site Condition Monitoring Officers.

In some areas, blocks of natural features are monitored by locally-let contracts, while for features requiring specialist monitoring techniques, such as standing waters or lower plants, national contracts are let. Scottish Natural Heritage also uses monitoring results from other sources, such as the Seabird 2000  and WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey  ), to determine the condition of some natural features.