Planning practical evidence-based decision making in conservation within time constraints: the Strategic Evidence Assessment Framework

Abstract

It is widely accepted that nature conservation practice benefits from incorporating scientific evidence into decision-making. However, even when the evidence is already collated, the task of applying evidence to all of the decisions undertaken by conservation professionals can seem overwhelming. The apparent magnitude of this task may deter individuals and organisations from applying evidence-based conservation. Our aim here is to create a framework to enable organisations to create a strategy for scientific evidence use appropriate for the range of decisions required and the time allocated. We illustrate this framework by showing how two conservation organisations used this approach to plan their evidence-based decision making.