Re-conceptualizing the role(s) of science in biodiversity conservation

Abstract

Summary Science, as both a body of knowledge and a process of acquiring new knowledge, is widely regarded as playing a central role in biodiversity conservation. Science undoubtedly enhances our understanding of the drivers of biodiversity loss and assists in the formulation of practical and policy responses, but it has not yet proved sufficiently influential to reverse global trends of biodiversity decline. This review seeks to critically examine the science of biodiversity conservation and to identify any hidden assumptions that, once interrogated and explored, may assist in improving conservation science, policy and practice. By drawing on existing reviews of the literature, this review describes the major themes of the literature and examines the historical shifts in the framing of conservation. It highlights the dominance of research philosophies that view conservation through a primarily ecological lens, changes in the goal(s) of conservation and a lack of clarity over the role(s) of science in biodiversity conservation. Finally, this review offers a simple framework to more clearly and consistently conceptualize the role(s) of science in biodiversity conservation in the future. Greater critical reflection on how conservation science might better accommodate multiple knowledges, goals and values could assist in ‘opening up’ new, legitimate pathways for biodiversity conservation.

Large Cities Fall Behind in “Neighborhood Biodiversity”

“…Given the propensity of cities with limited pervious surfaces (i.e., lacking in undeveloped open space) to have very few indicator species and scores of zero in our ranking of biodiversity management policies, it seems likely that urbanization and species loss becomes something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Policy-makers and the public view urbanized areas of the city as ecologically "irredeemable" and resist efforts to conserve and restore elements of nature that would have outsized relevance to (human) residents of such neighborhoods, many of whom are economically and socially marginalized, and frequently excluded from discussions around conservation science (Evans, 2021). This feedback loop denying the importance of natural systems while permitting more development (and less land conservation) is evident in the language of certain cities' plans (Table 1).…”

Identifying Priorities, Targets, and Actions for the Long-term Social and Ecological Management of Invasive Non-Native Species

“…Five key tenets of well-designed public policy and natural resource management planning should underpin longterm INNS management plans (Groves and Game 2016;Dunn 2017;Evans 2021). First, a management plan should be justifiable.…”

“…There is a need for approaches that facilitate collaboration among a variety of actors to identify management priorities and uncertainties in an inclusive and structured way. These approaches explicitly permit and encourage disagreement, providing means to resolve these disagreements and translate them into concrete and feasible actions (Novoa et al 2018;Van Woensel 2019;Clement 2020;Evans 2021). We define participants as actors interested in, affected by, or with a stake in the management of the focal INNS, including but not limited to decision-makers, managers, experts, and representatives of the affected communities and companies.…”

Plotting the coloniality of conservation

“…Notably, neoliberal conservation relies on some aspects of conservation that were historically wellestablished under colonial environmental rule, such as the instrumentalization of science (Evans, 2021) in the service of capital (Bryant, 1997;Fairhead and Leach, 2000), the commodification and commercialization of nature (Beinart and Hughes, 2007;Gadgil and Guha, 1992), the standardization and simplification of complex ecosystems (Scott, 1998) and the racialized appropriation of land, resources and labor (Li, 2007;Bryant, 1994). It is a concept that is therefore characterized by the intersections of Capitalist Modernity and the Coloniality of Power.…”