Environmental monitoring: the scale and speed of implementation varies according to the degree of peoples involvement

Summary 1. Solutions to the global environmental crisis require scientific knowledge and responses spanning di! erent spatial scales and levels of societal organization; yet understanding how to translate environmental knowledgeintodecision-making andaction remainslimited. 2. We examined 104 published environmental monitoring schemes to assess whether participation indatacollection and analysisinfluencesthespeed and scaleof decision-makingandaction. 3. Our results show that scientist-executed monitoring informs decisions within regions, nations andinternationalconventions. However,decisionstypicallytake3‐9 yearstobe implemented. 4. Wealsoshowthatscientist-executedmonitoringhaslittleimpactatthevillagescale,wheremany natural resourcemanagement decisionsaremade. 5. At the village scale, monitoring schemes that involve local people, and relate to resource utilization at the village level, are much more e! ective at influencing decisions; these decisions typically take0‐1yeartobeimplemented. 6. Synthesis and applications: Involving local stakeholders in monitoring enhances management responses at local spatial scales, and increases the speed of decision-making to tackle environmental challengesatoperationallevelsofresourcemanagement.