Questions to Ask Before Starting a Tools Search

Some tools are universally applicable while others work best in particular circumstances.  The Tools Library helps practitioners find tools suited to their specific planning needs. The following questions will help to clarify those needs: 

Social and cultural considerations  

• What kinds of social and cultural complexity do you anticipate?
• Will there be problems communicating with some participants because of language or cultural differences, or physical isolation?
• What is your sense of how different participants will react to technical or quantitative tools for analyses?

Some planning tools are easier to use than others, in socially complex situations. For example: where there are many participants involved; or multiple languages; where views on key issues are polarised; or where there is diversity in cultural norms or in philosophical or religious views. Though In experienced hands most of the tools provided here can be customized to work in socially or culturally complex circumstances, selecting a simpler tool can be just as effective.  

Single- versus multi-species planning  

• How many species or taxa are you planning for?

Planning may be directed at one species or at multiple species concurrently.  Some tools are better suited to one or the other of these planning situations.

Data quality or quantity

• What is your sense of the quantity and quality of data available to this project?
• Are there large gaps or areas of significant uncertainty and, if so, where?
• Will there be enough time and resources available to fill those gaps before planning starts?

Here, relevant data includes species' demography (life history traits, trends in population size and growth), spatial characteristics (range, distribution, habitat preferences) as well as information about the effectiveness of specific management activities in reducing threats to populations. Some tools are designed for use in planning where data are relatively scarce, while others are designed to take advantage of the full range of quantitative data on species and their habitats. Projects considering the use of a quantitative analysis tool should examine whether the data to use the tool already exists and, if it doesn't, whether there is sufficient time and resources to gather the necessary data.

Available resources

• What staff or participant time, expertise or financial resources can you access for the project?

Some tools are expensive and/or require technical expertise. These may be out of reach for some projects and simpler or cheaper alternatives will be needed. 
 

Planning step 

• Where are you in the planning sequence? 

Is there a particular step that you need a tool for, or are you looking more generally at the whole planning process and the approach you might take to it?

Once you have diagnosed your planning situation, the Tools Table will help you navigate to tools that will suit your needs.