Embedding Evidence on Conservation Interventions Within a Context of Multilevel Governance

• We outline a conceptual strategy for implementing conservation interventionsin a multiscale, multiactor, and multilevel governance world. Using farmlandas an example, we argue that conservation interventions should be implementedwithin a multiscale framework of guiding ecological principles. Inthis context, findings from multilevel governance research can inform a nuancedunderstanding of the role of evidence in conservation governance anddecision-making. We propose that principles of evidence-based conservationcan be used to refine guiding ecological principles across scales, thereby creatinga comprehensive evidence base that underpins decision-making. Thisevolving evidence base, in turn, should be operationalized by considering thefit of ecologically relevant scales to governance levels, paying explicit attentionto issues such as democratic legitimacy and interplay with existing governancestructures. We outline two specific steps for meeting this challenge. Drawingon a strategic combination of conservation interventions, guiding ecologicalprinciples, and insights from multilevel governance research promises to improveboth the effectiveness and legitimacy of conservation action.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Ecology (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Biodiversity conservation

ecology

environmental decision-making

evidence-informed conservation

general principles

science-policy interface

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)