Transforming Conservation: A Practical Guide to Evidence and Decision Making.

Published online
22 Feb 2023
Published by
Conservation Evidence
Content type
Book
Website(s)
https://www.conservationevidence.com/
DOI
10.11647/OBP.0321


Publication language
English

Abstract

This book seeks to convince conservation policy makers and practitioners that there are considerable problems with how decisions are usually made and that they need to take this seriously. It seeks to outline a range of straightforward practical solutions that can improve the use of evidence, improve the decision-making process and then embed evidence into practice. The transformation suggested includes rethinking how evidence is assessed, combined, communicated and used in decision-making; using effective methods when asking experts to make judgements; using a structured process for making decisions that incorporate the evidence and having effective processes for learning from actions. In each case, the specific problem with decision making is described with a range of practical solutions. Adopting this approach to decision-making requires societal change so detailed suggestions are made for transforming organisations, governments, businesses, funders and philanthropists. The practical suggestions include twelve downloadable checklists. The vision of the authors is to transform conservation so it is more effective, more cost-efficient, learns from practice and is more attractive to funders. However, the lessons of this book go well beyond conservation to decision-makers in any field. The book has 13 chapters.

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