Extending STOC overseas

The ’Suivi temporel des Oiseaux communs’ (STOC), a point-count survey technique, was not employed in the overseas territories before the launch of the Life+ Cap DOM programme. Used as a structural indicator by the European Union, the technique has proved its worth, and is seriously lacking in those territories where biodiversity is particularly threatened. Under Life+ Cap DOM, the STOC protocols have been adapted to fit the special ecological requirements of the overseas territories, and the launch of these surveys has raised a growing interest among the volunteers and professionals involved in conservation in La Réunion, Martinique and French Guiana.