Catalyzing success in community-based conservation
A global machine‑learning analysis of 128 community‑based conservation projects across 37 countries uncovers the national, community, and project‑level factors that most influence positive human well‑being and environmental outcomes. Findings highlight the importance of governance, trust‑building, capacity development, and diversified livelihood strategies.
Subject Tags
- Community-based conservation
- Indigenous Peoples
- Conservation Planning
Abstract
Efforts to devolve rights and engage Indigenous Peoples and local communities in conservation have increased the demand for evidence of the efficacy of community-based conservation (CBC) and insights into what enables its success. We examined the human well-being and environmental outcomes of a diverse set of 128 CBC projects. Over 80% of CBC projects had some positive human well-being or environmental outcomes, although just 32% achieved positive outcomes for both (i.e., combined success). We coded 57 total national-, community-, and project-level variables and controls from this set, performed random forest classification to identify the variables most important to combined success, and calculated accumulated local effects to describe their individual influence on the probability of achieving it. The best predictors of combined success were 17 variables suggestive of various recommendations and opportunities for conservation practitioners related to national contexts, community characteristics, and the implementation of various strategies and interventions informed by existing CBC frameworks. Specifically, CBC projects had higher probabilities of combined success when they occurred in national contexts supportive of local governance, confronted challenges to collective action, promoted economic diversification, and invested in various capacity-building efforts. Our results provide important insights into how to encourage greater success in CBC.
Citation
Fariss, B., DeMello, N., Powlen, K. A., Latimer, C. E., Masuda, Y., & Kennedy, C. M. (2023). Catalyzing success in community‐based conservation. Conservation Biology, 37(1), e13973.
TNC Authors
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Brandie Fariss
Community-led Conservation Social Scientist
The Nature Conservancy
Email: brandie.fariss@TNC.ORG -
Nicole DeMello
Social-Ecological Systems Advisor
The Nature Conservancy
Email: ndemello@tnc.org -
Yuta Masuda
Volunteer
The Nature Conservancy
Email: ymasuda@TNC.ORG -
Christina Kennedy
Global Director of Spatial Conservation Science
The Nature Conservancy
Email: ckennedy@TNC.ORG