Integrating social science into conservation planning

Niemiec, Rebecca M.; Gruby, Rebecca L.; Quartuch, Michael R.; Cavaliere, Christina T.; Teel, Tara L.; Crooks, Kevin R.; Salerno, Jonathan; Solomon, Jennifer; Jones, Kelly W.; Gavin, Michael C.; Lavoie, Anna; Stronza, Amanda; Meth, Leah; Enrici, Ash; Lanter, Katie; Browne, Christine; Proctor, J. Harris; Manfredo, Michael J.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109298

Cited by 27 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Using African carnivores as the model system, we further demonstrated the complexity of ecological, environmental, and social factors that challenge the persistence of biodiversity in Africa. Conservation planning must acknowledge the interconnectedness of human and natural systems as well as stress the necessity of social–ecological approaches in conservation practice ( 55 ). We employed an interdisciplinary approach by including people not simply through a single disruptive lens of anthropogenic pressures but rather acknowledging that cultural value and heritage of African peoples can fundamentally contribute to species conservation amid extractive customs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-ecological gap analysis to forecast species range contractions for conservation

Harris

Murphy

Green

et al. 2023

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Conservation requires both a needs assessment and prioritization scheme for planning and implementation. Range maps are critical for understanding and conserving biodiversity, but current range maps often omit content, negating important metrics of variation in populations and places. Here, we integrate a myriad of conditions that are spatially explicit across distributions of carnivores to identify gaps in capacity necessary for their conservation. Expanding on traditional gap analyses that focus almost exclusively on quantifying discordance in protected area coverage across a species’ range, our work aggregates threat layers (e.g., drought, human pressures) with resources layers (e.g., protected areas, cultural diversity) to identify gaps in available conservation capacity (ACC) across ranges for 91 African carnivores. Our model indicated that all species have some portion of their range at risk of contraction, with an average of 15 percentage range loss. We found that the ACC differed based on body size and taxonomy. Results deviated from current perceptions of extinction risks for species with an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threat status of Least Concern and yielded insights for species categorized as Data Deficient. Our socio-ecological gap analysis presents a geospatial approach to inform decision-making and resource allocation in conservation. Ultimately, our work advances forecasting dynamics of species’ ranges that are increasingly vital in an era of great socio-ecological change to mitigate human–wildlife conflict and promote inclusive carnivore conservation across geographies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-ecological gap analysis to forecast species range contractions for conservation

Harris

Murphy

Green

et al. 2023

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Several means exist for designing effective conservation strategies by considering the perceptions and attitudes of local populations toward wildlife, by disseminating environmental education programmes (Hariohay et al, 2018) and implementing participative conservation planning by involving local people (Groulx et al, 2021;Niemiec et al, 2021). Our results suggest that environmental education has a positive influence on conservation perceptions.…”

Section: Conservation Perceptionsmentioning

confidence: 70%

The complexity of the conservation-development nexus in Central African national parks and the perceptions of local populations

RASOUL

JULES

Lhoest

et al. 2022

Journal for Nature Conservation

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“…We note that many of the specific topics and questions identified here are not particularly novel from a theoretical standpoint, often having been already explored in publications in the broader conservation social science literature. Yet, novel research or theoretical contributions in the conservation social sciences may not produce the place-based knowledge and actionable insights that is required by practitioners, managers, and policy-makers to make evidence-informed conservation decisions (Beier et al, 2017;Niemiec et al, 2021). Basic information related to the many human dimensions topics and questions presented in Table 3 is required to inform actions during the different stages -planning, doing and learning -of conservation in working landscapes and seascapes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our focus here is to inform such engagements through examining specific roles and contributions of the social sciences to conservation efforts (e.g., decision-making, planning and management) in working landscape and seascape initiatives. The conservation social sciences include a broad set of disciplines, theories, methods and analytical approaches that can be used to provide insights related to the human dimensions (i.e., a general term that refers to social, cultural, economic, health, political and governance aspects) of environmental challenges and management (Newing et al, 2011;Sandbrook et al, 2013;Bennett et al, 2017a;Niemiec et al, 2021).…”

Section: Problem and Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social science for conservation in working landscapes and seascapes

Bennett

Dodge

Akre

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Biodiversity is in precipitous decline globally across both terrestrial and marine environments. Therefore, conservation actions are needed everywhere on Earth, including in the biodiversity rich landscapes and seascapes where people live and work that cover much of the planet. Integrative landscape and seascape approaches to conservation fill this niche. Making evidence-informed conservation decisions within these populated and working landscapes and seascapes requires an in-depth and nuanced understanding of the human dimensions through application of the conservation social sciences. Yet, there has been no comprehensive exploration of potential conservation social science contributions to working landscape and seascape initiatives. We use the Smithsonian Working Land and Seascapes initiative – an established program with a network of 14 sites around the world – as a case study to examine what human dimensions topics are key to improving our understanding and how this knowledge can inform conservation in working landscapes and seascapes. This exploratory study identifies 38 topics and linked questions related to how insights from place-based and problem-focused social science might inform the planning, doing, and learning phases of conservation decision-making and adaptive management. Results also show how conservation social science might yield synthetic and theoretical insights that are more broadly applicable. We contend that incorporating insights regarding the human dimensions into integrated conservation initiatives across working landscapes and seascapes will produce more effective, equitable, appropriate and robust conservation actions. Thus, we encourage governments and organizations working on conservation initiatives in working landscapes and seascapes to increase engagement with and funding of conservation social science.

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Integrating social science into conservation planning

Cited by 27 publications

References 72 publications

Socio-ecological gap analysis to forecast species range contractions for conservation

Socio-ecological gap analysis to forecast species range contractions for conservation

The complexity of the conservation-development nexus in Central African national parks and the perceptions of local populations

Social science for conservation in working landscapes and seascapes

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