Balancing making a difference with making a living in the conservation sector

Pienkowski, Thomas; Keane, Aidan; Tickell, Sofia Castelló y; Hazenbosch, Mirjam; Arlidge, William N. S.; Baranyi, Gergő; Brittain, Stephanie; Lange, Emiel de; Khanyari, Munib; Papworth, Sarah; Milner‐Gulland, E.J.

doi:10.1111/cobi.13846

Cited by 11 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…This corroborates other research suggesting that ecological grief emerges partly from feelings of individual and collective powerlessness to prevent environmental degradation 8 . Qualitative results from a companion study of the same sample of respondents found that many focus on their contributions to stay motivated in the face of ongoing nature loss 12 . Further research is needed to understand the causal relationships between individuals' satisfaction with their contributions to conservation and their experiences of distress.…”

Section: Workplace Wellbeing In Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those involved in conservation for longer were expected to be more established in their careers, with more secure and better compensated roles, than early-career conservationists 12 . Moreover, people tend to become less distressed with age, which was strongly associated with experience in our study 44 .…”

Section: Workplace Wellbeing In Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, conservation spending is estimated to be an order of magnitude smaller than is required to meet critical global biodiversity targets 11 . This underfunding may partly explain the prevalence of precarious, inadequately compensated, and poorly resourced conservation jobs (e.g., 12 ). Furthermore, the vocational nature of conservation work can encourage exploitative practices, such as long-term unpaid or low-paid work, that affects those from disadvantaged backgrounds and junior members of the profession worst [13][14][15] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Doing value-aligned work is also important for many conservationists, such as those motivated by their love of nature and its perceived intrinsic and instrumental values 31 . Engaging in value-aligned work can be a source of satisfaction and meaning in conservationists' lives 12 . Some types of conservation work also provide bene cial opportunities to spend time in nature, travel, learn and grow, and interact with colleagues and other groups 31,32 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…'Promoting the positives' involves identifying and enhancing aspects of work that support job satisfaction and wellbeing. Among conservationists, these aspects may include feeling like one is making a "meaningful contribution" or spending time in nature 12,31 . Supporting mental health also involves preventing harm from workplace stressors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Protecting those who protect nature by supporting conservationists’ mental wellbeing

Pienkowski

Keane

Tickell

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Biodiversity conservation work can be challenging but rewarding, with potential consequences for conservationists’ mental health. Yet, little is known about patterns of mental health among conservationists and its associated protective and risk factors. A better understanding can help improve working conditions, supporting conservationists’ job satisfaction, productivity, and engagement, while reducing costs from staff turnover, absenteeism, and presenteeism. We surveyed 2311 conservationists across 143 countries, asking about experiences of psychological distress, personal characteristics, and workplace conditions. Moderate or severe distress was reported by 27.8%. Respondents with low dispositional and conservation-specific optimism, poor physical health, limited social support, women, and early-career professionals were most at risk. Heavy workload, job demands, and organisational instability were linked to higher distress, but job stability and satisfaction with one’s contributions to conservation were associated with lower distress. We suggest ways employers and others could support conservationists’ mental health and ability to tackle the global ecological crisis.

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Section: Workplace Wellbeing In Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Workplace Wellbeing In Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Protecting those who protect nature by supporting conservationists’ mental wellbeing

Pienkowski

Keane

Tickell

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Practitioner approaches to trade‐off decision‐making in marine conservation development

Fortnam,

Chaigneau,

Evans

et al. 2023

People and Nature

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Mounting evidence suggests that win‐wins are elusive and trade‐offs are the norm in marine conservation development practice. The status quo involves trade‐offs, and any change brought to ecosystems, economies and societies will alter the distribution of costs and benefits, creating other winners and losers among ecosystem services, sectors and people. While studies are increasingly acknowledging the prevalence of trade‐offs, this article analyses how practitioners working for conservation development agencies consider, facilitate and make trade‐off decisions a priori and post hoc when designing and implementing marine conservation development programmes in Southeast Asia. We find that these practitioners recognize both substantive trade‐offs, which are diverse social and ecological trade‐offs resulting from their programmes, and process trade‐offs, related to how they design programmes, including between their prioritization of different locations; between strategic relationships; and between the efficacy, equity and sustainability of projects. Existing decision support tools only capture a limited range of substantive (mainly ecological) trade‐offs, however, and are not widely used. Typically, social trade‐offs are not systematically assessed. Instead, they are implicitly identified by participants and beneficiaries voicing their concerns during consultation processes. Importantly, whether a trade‐off is then deemed acceptable is not determined through transparent assessment of trade‐offs and principles of equity or justice but by the uneven political power of stakeholders to project their values in decision‐making processes. The article concludes that practitioners should facilitate inclusive, transparent and systematic identification and deliberation of the social acceptability of multidimensional trade‐offs, and formulate response options to avoid or minimize adverse consequences. Tackling trade‐offs in this way has the potential to make invisible trade‐offs visible and improve the sustainability and legitimacy of marine conservation development programmes while promoting the interests of the most marginalized in efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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What should we do? An explanatory analysis of the decision-making process in biodiversity conservation

Virk,

Papworth,

Papworth

2023

Environmental Science & Policy

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Balancing making a difference with making a living in the conservation sector

Cited by 11 publications

References 60 publications

Protecting those who protect nature by supporting conservationists’ mental wellbeing

Protecting those who protect nature by supporting conservationists’ mental wellbeing

Practitioner approaches to trade‐off decision‐making in marine conservation development

What should we do? An explanatory analysis of the decision-making process in biodiversity conservation

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