To effectively safeguard nature, conservation efforts must successfully expand. A new research paper shares insights from around the globe on how to achieve this.
To combat the decline of biodiversity and achieve significant global objectives, conservation initiatives aimed at protecting a range of ecosystems from forests to marine life need to operate on a larger scale.
Scaling can be interpreted in three ways. ‘Scaling out’ refers to extending a program to include more individuals and regions, while ‘scaling up’ involves higher-level entities, such as governments, formulating policies or incentives that facilitate participation from individuals and private firms.
‘Scaling deep’ focuses on altering perceptions and norms about what is socially acceptable. A notable illustration of scaling deep is the 1980s ‘Don’t Mess with Texas’ campaign, which effectively made littering socially unacceptable.
Nonetheless, not all efforts to broaden pilot programs in these areas are successful. The Catalysing Conservation team, directed by Dr. Morena Mills at Imperial College London, has analyzed conservation projects globally alongside international experts and identified five key insights to help avoid common pitfalls of ineffective expansion.
Published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution, we had the opportunity to speak with two of the paper’s authors, Dr. Thomas Pienkowski and Dr. Matthew Clark from the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial.
Before we explore the insights, Dr. Clark points out: “There is no one-size-fits-all solution. It’s not simply about doing these five things for guaranteed success, but we aim for these insights to encourage reflection on what hasn’t worked and where to go from here.”
Lesson 1: Find a balance between effectiveness and scalability
Imagine a pilot program that collaborates with coastal communities to safeguard fish and other marine resources, aiming to enhance both local ecology and economies. If many neighboring communities adopt this program, that’s scaling out, but is it truly effective? Did it achieve its goals of protecting marine life and boosting local livelihoods? If not, scaling alone doesn’t equate to effectiveness.
On the other hand, a program might be effective yet not scalable. For instance, Dr. Clark is involved in mangrove conservation efforts, which often include planting trees. However, many seedlings perish quickly. While employing specialized tools and techniques can enhance survival rates, this approach is labor-intensive and therefore not easily scalable in rural areas.
The researchers emphasize the necessity of balancing these trade-offs between scalability and effectiveness.
A notable example is community-based forestry management in Nepal, which has been successfully implemented in over 20,000 forests since the 1980s, resulting in reductions in both poverty and deforestation, demonstrating that some initiatives can achieve both high scalability and effectiveness.
Lesson 2: Effectiveness can vary with scale
A pilot project that thrives in one location may not yield the same results elsewhere. Researchers note this occurrence is frequent due to various factors; for example, pilots may operate in ideal locations with substantial oversight and funding that broader programs may lack.
Conversely, larger scales can enhance effectiveness. Dr. Clark explains that “In situations where the goal is to conserve land for wildlife, larger animals that traverse vast territories will only benefit if sufficient land is protected and appropriate patrols are implemented to ensure that protection is enforced.”
An illustrative case is the cacao agroforestry initiative in Belize, which became considerably more effective when a clear market for sustainable cacao developed, attracting the interest of more international businesses eager to promote these products.
Lesson 3: Conservation impacts can influence subsequent conservation efforts
Sometimes, expanding conservation efforts can have unintended negative consequences, even if they are effective. A decade-long project in Mozambique established ‘no-take’ zones for fish and mangrove timber, improving food security. However, once these zones regained value as resources for food and income, support for conservation diminished, causing some areas to abandon the zones.
Feedback loops between environmental changes and human behavior can be either detrimental, as seen in Mozambique, or beneficial, where successful conservation practices in one location inspire adjacent areas to adopt similar strategies, or where grassroots movements influence national policies.
An example is the island of Pemba in Zanzibar, where the establishment of protected forest areas initially led to more harvesting at the edges of these zones; this, in turn, prompted neighboring communities to seek their own forest protection, expanding conservation organically.
Lesson 4: Pressures to scale may foster practices that compromise long-term success
While ambitious goals are necessary to address pressing issues, this ambition must be tempered with care. Dr. Pienkowski describes a potential pitfall: “NGOs play a vital role in extending programs by providing technical and financial assistance to local communities. However, there can be a fine line between support and coercion.
This can manifest in NGOs overstating the benefits that communities might receive from engaging in conservation efforts or selectively engaging only those individuals in communities who are most likely to gain, leaving vulnerable members behind and exacerbating inequalities.”
For instance, the REDD+ scheme aims to assist developing nations in forest management and enhancing carbon stocks, yet its implementation in certain areas of Tanzania has faced challenges due to unfulfilled payment promises, leading to disillusionment with conservation initiatives.
While larger NGOs often help to scale projects, this may come at the cost of local knowledge and support for grassroots organizations. For example, practices like ‘slash and burn’ agriculture are frowned upon in Europe, leading NGOs there to advocate against it, yet it can be effectively utilized in certain African communities as part of local ecosystem management.
An excellent instance of positive scaling is eco-tourism in Costa Rica, which began with local initiatives supported by NGOs and has now achieved self-sufficiency, eliminating reliance on external aid or structures that might jeopardize its sustainability.
Lesson 5: There is a need for more evidence
Dr. Pienkowski emphasizes, “This point is an appeal from us researchers facing challenges in building the evidence base necessary for devising more effective scaling strategies. It’s often challenging to track which initiatives have successfully scaled – this information is rarely gathered systematically or rigorously.”
This is particularly pertinent after programs have been completed; few NGOs routinely assess whether a scheme continues to operate successfully years after their involvement has concluded, or if it has been abandoned.
Dr. Pienkowski concludes: “For those advocating for conservation scaling, this represents a crucial time for reflection: given these examples and insights, what adjustments do we need to implement? By doing so, we stand a better chance of achieving impact at scale and ultimately reversing biodiversity loss.”
