A practical conservation tool to combine diverse types of evidence for transparent evidence-based decision-making

Authors

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Abstract

Making the reasoning and evidence behind conservation management decisions clear and transparent is a key challenge for the conservation community. Similarly, combining evidence from diverse sources (e.g., scientific and local knowledge) into decision-making is also difficult. Our group of conservation researchers and practitioners has co-produced an intuitive tool and template (Evidence-to-Decision [E2D] tool: www.evidence2decisiontool.com) to guide practitioners through a structured process to transparently document and report the evidence and reasoning behind decisions. The tool has three major steps: (1). Define the Decision Context; (2). Gather Evidence; and (3). Make an Evidence-Based Decision. In each step, practitioners enter information (e.g., from the scientific literature, practitioner knowledge and experience, and costs) to inform their decision-making and document their reasoning. The tool packages this information into a customized downloadable report (or is documented if using the offline template), which we hope can stimulate the exchange of information on decisions within and between organizations. By enabling practitioners to revisit how and why past decisions were made, and integrate diverse forms of evidence, we believe our open-access tool's template can help increase the transparency and quality of decision-making in conservation.

Publication Date
2022
Online Publication Date
2021-11-23
Acceptance Date
2021-10-22
Keywords
conservation management, cost-effectiveness, decision support tools, decision-making, evidence-based, practitioner knowledge, transparency, values
Journal Title
Conservation Science and Practice
Journal ISSN
2578-4854
2578-4854
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Sponsorship
NERC (NE/L002507/1)
William J. Sutherland and Harriet Downey were supported by Arcadia, The David and Claudia Harding Foundation, and MAVA. Alec P. Christie was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council as part of the Cambridge Earth System Science NERC DTP (NE/L002507/1) and The David and Claudia Harding Foundation. Thomas B. White was supported by the Balfour Studentship awarded by the Department of Zoology, Cambridge University.