Learning from published project failures in conservation

The need for improved reflexivity in conservation science

“…Others describe a need for researchers to be more attentive to the specific needs, perspectives and capacities of local contexts, working with local actors to bring about lasting positive change rather than deliver short-term research projects (Hind et al 2015). There have also been calls to learn from failure, including documenting and sharing experience when interventions have not gone according to plan (Catalano et al 2019) and to fill gaps in skills development that support more integrative, interactive and inclusive approaches to conservation (Elliott et al 2018). Meanwhile, scholars have called on organizations such as the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) to further institutionalize reflexivity in transformative learning (Borie et al 2020).…”

We have a long way to go if we want to realize the promise of the “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration”

“…For example, the journals Environmental Management, Restoration Ecology, and Conservation Science and Practice all have article types intended to enable practitioners to share their work. Efforts to share evidence must also recognize that failures are a vital aspect of learning (e.g., Catalano, Lyons-White, Mills, & Knight, 2019).…”

Connecting to the oceans: supporting ocean literacy and public engagement

“…However, marine environments are intrinsically complex and embedded in dynamic socio-ecological systems. Overlooking human and social dimensions of the ocean is one of the most common factors behind conservation failure, highlighting the urgent need for actions that enhance peoples’ understanding of, connection to, and resulting pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours towards the ocean (Catalano et al 2019 ; Stoll-Kleemann 2019 ).…”