It is an unfortunate reality that conservation efforts are restricted by funding, which is typically provided by national or state governments, or by private donors. As such, a growing literature has focused on how to maximise return-on-investment (ROI) in conservation. The vast majority of this literature has hitherto been concerned primarily with identifying locations with … Continue reading Putting a dollar value on impact: is effective conservation expensive?
Should conservation be focused on highly threatened frontier areas, or pristine wilderness areas?
Despite the efforts of conservation scientists worldwide, much conservation today is based on belief systems, rather than empirical evidence of the impact of alternative conservation strategies (but see Wiik et al. 2019 for exciting new research using randomised control trials). Two of the most widespread belief systems in conservation are the contrasting beliefs that we … Continue reading Should conservation be focused on highly threatened frontier areas, or pristine wilderness areas?
Conservation planning to maximise impact in small-scale coral reef fisheries
In the past, much of conservation planning has prioritised areas with high biodiversity value. However, the work of the conservation planning group and others is demonstrating that prioritising areas with high biodiversity value may not have the highest conservation impact. This is because many high biodiversity areas are under minimal threat from activities that are … Continue reading Conservation planning to maximise impact in small-scale coral reef fisheries
The overuse and questionable usefulness of huge offshore marine protected areas
Very large marine protected areas (VLMPAs) are being increasingly exploited by developed countries to help reach percentage area-based marine conservation targets. They are often located in overseas territories or remote offshore islands, where populations are low, and threats to these ecosystems are minimal. Examples of such MPAs are: the Natural Park of the Coral Sea, … Continue reading The overuse and questionable usefulness of huge offshore marine protected areas