Glossy black-cockatoos used to be common on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island until possums started eating their eggs and chicks. After volunteers helped protect nest hollows and erect safe nest boxes, the population more than doubled. But how do you measure such success? How do you compare cockatoo nest protection with any other investment in conservation? Unfortunately, we have few ways to compare and track the different efforts many people may be making to help conserve our natural treasures. That’s why a group of us from a dozen Australian universities along with scientists and private researchers around the world have created metrics of progress for both our understanding of how to manage threats of different intensity, and how well that management has been implemented. We also provide guidance on what still needs doing before a threat no longer needs active management.