In Pursuit of Knowledge: Addressing Barriers to Effective Conservation Evaluation
Evaluation, the process of assessing the effectiveness of programs and activities, has gained increasing attention in the conservation sector as programs seek to account for investments, measure their impacts, and adapt interventions to improve future outcomes. We conducted a country-wide evaluat...
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doaj-977e5140b8be41319566d41e0711efa52020-11-24T23:53:20ZengResilience AllianceEcology and Society1708-30872011-06-011621410.5751/ES-04099-1602144099In Pursuit of Knowledge: Addressing Barriers to Effective Conservation EvaluationMadeleine C. Bottrill0Marc Hockings1Hugh P. Possingham2School of Biological Sciences, The University of QueenslandSchool of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, The University of QueenslandSchool of Biological Sciences, The University of QueenslandEvaluation, the process of assessing the effectiveness of programs and activities, has gained increasing attention in the conservation sector as programs seek to account for investments, measure their impacts, and adapt interventions to improve future outcomes. We conducted a country-wide evaluation of terrestrial-based conservation programs in Samoa. Though rarely applied, the benefit of evaluating multiple projects at once is that it highlights factors which are persistent and influential across the entire conservation sector. We found mixed success in achieving goals among conservation programs; yet this result is surrounded by uncertainty because of the quality of existing evidence on project outcomes. We explore the role of different components of the conservation management system, i.e., context, planning, inputs, processes, and outputs, in facilitating and/or constraining collection of data on project outcomes, and thereby assessment of whether projects were successful. Our study identified a number of direct and indirect barriers that affected the capacity of projects to carry out informative evaluations and generate knowledge on conservation progress in Samoa. These attributes and mechanisms include: the availability and management of data, design and planning of projects, and systems for reporting among donors and proponents. To overcome these barriers to evaluation, we believe that a shift in institutional approaches to reporting outcomes is needed, from a reflective way of thinking to a more prospective outlook.http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss2/art14/conservationeffectivenessevaluationPacific Islandssuccess |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Madeleine C. Bottrill Marc Hockings Hugh P. Possingham |
spellingShingle |
Madeleine C. Bottrill Marc Hockings Hugh P. Possingham In Pursuit of Knowledge: Addressing Barriers to Effective Conservation Evaluation Ecology and Society conservation effectiveness evaluation Pacific Islands success |
author_facet |
Madeleine C. Bottrill Marc Hockings Hugh P. Possingham |
author_sort |
Madeleine C. Bottrill |
title |
In Pursuit of Knowledge: Addressing Barriers to Effective Conservation Evaluation |
title_short |
In Pursuit of Knowledge: Addressing Barriers to Effective Conservation Evaluation |
title_full |
In Pursuit of Knowledge: Addressing Barriers to Effective Conservation Evaluation |
title_fullStr |
In Pursuit of Knowledge: Addressing Barriers to Effective Conservation Evaluation |
title_full_unstemmed |
In Pursuit of Knowledge: Addressing Barriers to Effective Conservation Evaluation |
title_sort |
in pursuit of knowledge: addressing barriers to effective conservation evaluation |
publisher |
Resilience Alliance |
series |
Ecology and Society |
issn |
1708-3087 |
publishDate |
2011-06-01 |
description |
Evaluation, the process of assessing the effectiveness of programs and activities, has gained increasing attention in the conservation sector as programs seek to account for investments, measure their impacts, and adapt interventions to improve future outcomes. We conducted a country-wide evaluation of terrestrial-based conservation programs in Samoa. Though rarely applied, the benefit of evaluating multiple projects at once is that it highlights factors which are persistent and influential across the entire conservation sector. We found mixed success in achieving goals among conservation programs; yet this result is surrounded by uncertainty because of the quality of existing evidence on project outcomes. We explore the role of different components of the conservation management system, i.e., context, planning, inputs, processes, and outputs, in facilitating and/or constraining collection of data on project outcomes, and thereby assessment of whether projects were successful. Our study identified a number of direct and indirect barriers that affected the capacity of projects to carry out informative evaluations and generate knowledge on conservation progress in Samoa. These attributes and mechanisms include: the availability and management of data, design and planning of projects, and systems for reporting among donors and proponents. To overcome these barriers to evaluation, we believe that a shift in institutional approaches to reporting outcomes is needed, from a reflective way of thinking to a more prospective outlook. |
topic |
conservation effectiveness evaluation Pacific Islands success |
url |
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss2/art14/ |
work_keys_str_mv |
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