Monitoring Nature Conservation in Cultural Habitats presents monitoring as an integral component of responsible conservation management and as a catalyst for decision making. The early sections of the book cover key areas in the development of a monitoring project, including:

- The roles of survey and surveillance
- Incorporating knowledge from existing research
- Identifying the conservation priority on sites
- Minimising observer error
- Identifying site-specific condition indicators for habitats
- Collecting monitoring data.

The later sections of the book comprise a series of case studies covering a wide range of habitats and species. These case studies focus mostly, though not exclusively, on sites that form part of the Natura 2000 series in Europe.