It is increasingly evident that conservation is unlikely to make much progress without being clearly oriented to explicit objectives. In this approach, audit defines priorities because resources are scarce and need to be focused. Targets can be set for individual species or for habitats and are approached by way of planned actions. Progress in implementing action plans is monitored, which allows for adaptation of understanding and action. There are some arguments for taking such an approach species by species on the grounds that species are a fundamental currency of biodiversity. On the other hand, many of the driving forces causing adverse status are common across species, so higher-level actions may need to be focused at habitats (such as grasslands) or policy areas (such as agriculture) for the sake of relevance and efficiency.