Using Public Preferences to Weight Species Prioritization Criteria in Conservation Decision Making: A Case Study to Explore Potential Strengths and Weaknesses

Ranking and mapping the high conservation priority bird species of Saudi Arabia

“…Several prioritization schemes include social attributes such as cultural significance as a measure for determining conservation priority (e.g., Mace et al 2007, Vieira da Silva et al 2016; however this attribute was not included in our analysis because of its intrinsically subjective nature. Certainly some species have particular cultural relevance in Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula in general.…”

“…National conservation prioritization systems often vary greatly in what attributes are used, and how these attributes are scored and weighted (Schmeller et al 2008, Le Berre et al 2019. Most schemes score species based on extinction risk plus other measures of conservation importance, such as degree of endemicity, phylogenetic uniqueness, cost effectiveness, likelihood of success, and cultural, economic, or flagship value (e.g., Avery et al 1995, Rodríguez et al 2004, Gauthier et al 2010, Seoane et al 2011, Vieira da Silva et al 2016. Ideally, these prioritization schemes are effective at drawing attention to high conservation priority species, helping conservation agencies make rational decisions, and ultimately conserving biodiversity.…”

Ranking and mapping Saudi Arabia's high conservation priority terrestrial vertebrates

“…There is no standardized method for determining national conservation priorities (reviewed in Le Berre et al, 2019). Typically, prioritization schemes categorize species using some measure of extinction risk, along with other factors such as level of endemicity, national responsibility (Schmeller et al, 2014), phylogenetic distinctness (Collen et al, 2011), cultural, aesthetic, economic, flagship or keystone value (Fitzpatrick et al, 2007;McGowan et al, 2020), public appeal (Vieira da Silva et al, 2016), or the cost of implementing conservation actions versus likelihood of success (Joseph, Maloney & Possingham, 2009). In this study, we use empirical criteria related to extinction risk, endemicity, national responsibility, and phylogenetic distinctness.…”