Open Standards for conservation as a tool for linking research and conservation agendas in complex socio-ecological systems

Núñez‐Regueiro, Maurício M.; Branch, Lyn C.; Derlindati, Enrique J.; Gasparri, Ignácio; Marinaro, Sofía; Nanni, Sofia; Godoy, Cristina Núñez; Piquer‐Rodriguez, María; Soto, José R.; Tálamo, Andrés

doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2020.03.001

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…A Theory of Change approach was chosen over other conservation decision frameworks (Bower et al, 2018;Núñez-Regueiro et al, 2020), as it is qualitative and relatively simple, yet can provide a big picture approach to help understand complex socio-ecological systems. Theories of change are process-oriented tools, they are particularly suited to development through expert and stakeholder consultation.…”

Section: The Theory Of Change Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering Coexistence Between People and Large Carnivores in Africa: Using a Theory of Change to Identify Pathways to Impact and Their Underlying Assumptions

Durant

Marino

Linnell

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Coexistence with large carnivores poses challenges to human well-being, livelihoods, development, resource management, and policy. Even where people and carnivores have historically coexisted, traditional patterns of behavior toward large carnivores may be disrupted by wider processes of economic, social, political, and climate change. Conservation interventions have typically focused on changing behaviors of those living alongside large carnivores to promote sustainable practices. While these interventions remain important, their success is inextricably linked to broader socio-political contexts, including natural resource governance and equitable distribution of conservation-linked costs and benefits. In this context we propose a Theory of Change to identify logical pathways of action through which coexistence with large carnivores can be enhanced. We focus on Africa's dryland landscapes, known for their diverse guild of large carnivores that remain relatively widespread across the continent. We review the literature to understand coexistence and its challenges; explain our Theory of Change, including expected outcomes and pathways to impact; and discuss how our model could be implemented and operationalized. Our analysis draws on the experience of coauthors, who are scientists and practitioners, and on literature from conservation, political ecology, and anthropology to explore the challenges, local realities, and place-based conditions under which expected outcomes succeed or fail. Three pathways to impact were identified: (a) putting in place good governance harmonized across geographic scales; (b) addressing coexistence at the landscape level; and (c) reducing costs and increasing benefits of sharing a landscape with large carnivores. Coordinated conservation across the extensive, and potentially transboundary, landscapes needed by large carnivores requires harmonization of top-down approaches with bottom-up community-based conservation. We propose adaptive co-management approaches combined with processes for active community engagement and informed consent as useful dynamic mechanisms for navigating through this contested space, while enabling adaptation to climate change. Success depends on strengthening underlying enabling conditions, including governance, capacity, local empowerment, effective monitoring, and sustainable financial support. Implementing the Theory of Change requires ongoing monitoring and evaluation to inform adaptation and build confidence in the model. Overall, the model provides a flexible and practical framework that can be adapted to dynamic local socio-ecological contexts.

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Section: The Theory Of Change Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering Coexistence Between People and Large Carnivores in Africa: Using a Theory of Change to Identify Pathways to Impact and Their Underlying Assumptions

Durant

Marino

Linnell

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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“…Many conservationists have long recognized the complexity of these and other social-ecological contexts in which they work (Allen and Gould, 1986;McCool and Guthrie, 2001;Lachapelle et al, 2003;Liu et al, 2007;Game et al, 2014). Calls for systems thinking and cross-disciplinarity across conservation issues, including using social-ecological approaches that integrate the social and natural sciences, are not new (Ban et al, 2013;Game et al, 2014;Mahajan et al, 2019;Núñez-Regueiro et al, 2020). However, advances in collaboration between sectors and disciplines are limited, with few examples of application to a full project cycle (Mahajan et al, 2019).…”

Section: Toward New Approaches To Combating Wildlife Traffickingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While there is considerable recognition of the need for collaboration, less is known about how to effectively put it in into practice (Mahlangu et al, 2019). Planning frameworks have been recommended to help overcome the challenges of cross-disciplinary approaches and to develop more effective, holistic solutions to complex conservation problems (Ostrom, 2009;Núñez-Regueiro et al, 2020).…”

Section: Toward New Approaches To Combating Wildlife Traffickingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whereas, published examples of projects that have applied the full OS framework are lacking, there are multiple examples of projects that have applied it to different stages of the project cycle, including efforts to combat wildlife trafficking (Núñez-Regueiro et al, 2020). These include planning law enforcement and outreach strategies to recover tiger populations in Lao PDR (Johnson et al, 2016), reducing opportunities for wildlife trafficking in commercial transportation sectors (Spevack, 2021), and addressing poaching of elephants and other species in Central Africa (Muir et al, 2014).…”

Section: Open Standardsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Systems thinking with systemic problem analysis can lead to a more comprehensive understanding of a complex system and inform the development of tailored interventions designed through multisectoral, cross-disciplinary collaboration (Hieronymi, 2013;Mahajan et al, 2019). Cross-disciplinarity offers many benefits, including increased diversity of thought, innovation, and resources, but there are also logistical and conceptual challenges (Ding et al, 2020;Núñez-Regueiro et al, 2020). As we seek new ways to address IWT, it is important to understand the successes and limitations of early approaches and seek frameworks that can facilitate working at varied scales and across sectors and disciplines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Systems Approaches to Combating Wildlife Trafficking: Expanding Existing Frameworks to Facilitate Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

Browne¹,

Ronis²,

Miller³

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Wildlife trafficking is a complex conservation issue that threatens thousands of species around the world and, in turn, negatively affects biodiversity and human well-being. It occurs in varied social-ecological contexts; includes numerous and diverse actors along the source-transit-destination trade chain, who are involved in illicit and often covert human behaviors driven by interacting social, economic, cultural, and political factors; and involves numerous stakeholders comprising multiple sectors and disciplines. Such wicked problems can be difficult to define and usually lack simple, clear solutions. Systems thinking is a way to understand and address complex issues such as wildlife trafficking and requires multisectoral, cross-disciplinary collaboration to comprehensively understand today's increasingly complex problems and develop holistic and novel solutions. We review methods utilized to date to combat wildlife trafficking and discuss their strengths and limitations. Next, we describe the continuum of cross-disciplinarity and present two frameworks for understanding complex environmental issues, including the illegal trade in wildlife, that can facilitate collaboration across sectors and disciplines. The Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation provides guidance and tools for defining complex social-ecological systems and identifying strategic points of intervention. One Health focuses on the nexus of human, wildlife, and environmental health, and can provide a framework to address concerns around human-wildlife interactions, including those associated with the illegal wildlife trade. Finally, we provide recommendations for expanding these and similar frameworks to better support communication, learning, and collaboration in cross-disciplinary efforts aimed at addressing international wildlife trafficking and its intersections with other complex, global conservation issues.

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Co-production of sustainability indicators in a vulnerable South American agricultural frontier

Piquer-Rodríguez,

Aragón,

Pacheco

et al. 2024

Reg Environ Change

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Deforestation linked to agricultural activities is a major sustainability concern. Planning towards sustainable agricultural landscapes in the (sub-)tropics requires indicators that capture the many aspects of social-ecological cost and benefit of agriculture. Agricultural production strategies are developed using the best available data and knowledge such as high-yield locations, distance to storage facilities, or certification bonuses. However, there is often a divide between sustainable production data generated by the scientific community and current data that are of interest to actors, such as those in the agribusiness sector. Here, we describe how the harmonization of crop production, conservation, and social data used by scientists and agribusiness is possible using a participatory exercise based on knowledge co-production (i.e., generation of knowledge in a collaborative way) of socio-economic and environmental indicators (such as agricultural production, logistics, or the location of indigenous communities). This was made available through an online decision support platform that facilitated the generation of sustainable entrepreneurial strategies. We tested this exercise for the social-environmentally vulnerable Argentine Chaco dry forest, subject to some of the highest rates of deforestation globally, mainly due to soybean production. The cooperation between participants of this exercise built a knowledge exchange network that was key for informing decision-makers and highlighted information gaps including agricultural productivity, accessibility of regions, and the vulnerability of rural communities. Our exercise may be applicable to other agricultural commodity frontiers and showcases the value of including actors’ priorities in the design of indicators to ensure their policy impact and to achieve food systems’ sustainability.

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Open Standards for conservation as a tool for linking research and conservation agendas in complex socio-ecological systems

Cited by 13 publications

References 52 publications

Fostering Coexistence Between People and Large Carnivores in Africa: Using a Theory of Change to Identify Pathways to Impact and Their Underlying Assumptions

Fostering Coexistence Between People and Large Carnivores in Africa: Using a Theory of Change to Identify Pathways to Impact and Their Underlying Assumptions

Systems Approaches to Combating Wildlife Trafficking: Expanding Existing Frameworks to Facilitate Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

Co-production of sustainability indicators in a vulnerable South American agricultural frontier

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