Journal
CONSERVATION LETTERS
Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 264-268Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00167.x
Keywords
2010 target; extinction risk; indicator; International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List; Red List Index
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Increasing efforts have recently focused on development of indicators for monitoring biodiversity loss, stimulated by development of the 2010 target. Such efforts have failed to consider Goodhart's Law, which states that once an indicator is made into a policy target, then it will lose the information content that qualifies it to play its role as an indicator. The implications of Goodhart's Law for monitoring biodiversity are examined with specific reference to the IUCN Red List Index (RLI). According to Goodhart's Law, use of the RLI as an indicator could affect how conservation actions are targeted and how the Red List assessment is conducted, potentially undermining the assessment process itself. The use of targets in conservation policy and the associated development of indicators should therefore be undertaken with caution. Specifically, to support monitoring of global biodiversity loss, systems should be put in place to prevent the manipulation of indicators and the assessments on which they are based, to ensure that the information they provide is objective and reliable.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available