Leadership: a New Frontier in Conservation Science

Abstract

Leadership is a critical tool for expanding the influence of conservation science, but recent advances in leadership concepts and practice remain underutilized by conservation scientists. Furthermore, an explicit conceptual foundation and definition of leadership in conservation science are not available in the literature. Here we drew on our diverse leadership experiences, our reading of leadership literature, and discussions with selected conservation science leaders to define conservation-science leadership, summarize an exploratory set of leadership principles that are applicable to conservation science, and recommend actions to expand leadership capacity among conservation scientists and practitioners. We define 2 types of conservation-science leadership: shaping conservation science through path-breaking research, and advancing the integration of conservation science into policy, management, and society at large. We focused on the second, integrative type of leadership because we believe it presents the greatest opportunity for improving conservation effectiveness. We identified 8 leadership principles derived mainly from the "adaptive leadership" literature: recognize the social dimension of the problem; cycle frequently through action and reflection; get and maintain attention; combine strengths of multiple leaders; extend your reach through networks of relationships; strategically time your effort; nurture productive conflict; and cultivate diversity. Conservation scientists and practitioners should strive to develop themselves as leaders, and the Society for Conservation Biology, conservation organizations, and academia should support this effort through professional development, mentoring, teaching, and research.

Giving Direction and Clarity to Conservation Leadership

“…In one of the first articles, published in 2004, the authors cited a total of five sources, none of which referenced any of the abundant research about leadership from the previous decades. In 2008, Conservation Biology published an article in which researchers reported that a search of articles in Web of Science using the search terms "conservation biology OR conservation science AND leadership" produced 22 articles, most of which, they noted, did not actually apply to leadership (Manolis et al 2008). Six years later, I conducted the same search and found 60 articles, and similarly, most were not actually relevant.…”

Short communication: Stocktaking forestry knowledge in Eastern Mediterranean: a glimpse on where do practitioners stand

“…Even though leadership is a universal phenomenon, its magnitude of difficulty of inducing changes is still affected by the organizations and cultures in which it appears (Bass, 1997; Manolis et al, 2009), whereby conservation interventions question the need for changes in human behaviour (Mascia et al, 2003;Balmford & Cowling, 2006). In the EMCs, the challenges for leadership in forestlands conservation are numerous.…”

Capacity building for conservation: problems and potential solutions for sub-Saharan Africa

“…Leaders must therefore be able to develop and maintain the operational efficiency and resilience of their organizations through building appropriate organizational structures, strategies, accountability and finances. Despite the acknowledged role of leadership in conservation, the sector has been relatively slow to adopt evidence-based models of good leadership practices from other sectors (Manolis et al, 2009). There have been attempts to bring greater clarity and definition to what is actually meant by leadership in various conservation contexts (Bruyere, 2015).…”