Conservation Evidence at the European Congress of Conservation Biology
The Conservation Evidence team was recently involved in the 8th European Congress of Conservation Biology, held earlier this month in Leiden, the Netherlands.
Professor Bill Sutherland, Dr Vanessa Cutts and Dr Sam Reynolds ran a couple of interactive workshops. Turning evidence into action focused on the importance of evidence use, demonstrated how the Conservation Evidence website can be used to identify appropriate actions and assess the strength of available evidence, and introduced how we are using AI for evidence synthesis. A process for testing the effectiveness of conservation practice highlighted the importance of testing conservation actions and showed how simple tests can be incorporated into conservation projects. Both workshops were attended by around 50 participants. It was great to see so much interest in both sessions, and we were especially encouraged by how engaged everyone was. There were lots of thoughtful discussions during the workshops and it was great to continue those conversations afterwards, with people keen to share their own experiences and ideas.
Ashley Simkins presented some of his PhD research, analysing >3,000 studies from the Conservation Evidence to draw out some general patterns on the effectiveness of conservation actions for tetrapods. Excitingly, Ashley’s work also allows us to predict effectiveness of actions for species without any existing tests.
The conference theme was Effective Biodiversity Conservation, so our workshops and talks fitted in well. Throughout the conference, there was a strong focus on connecting research, practice, and, in particular, policy. Some of the sessions were directly focused on solutions in conservation, which were particularly inspiring to hear. These talks covered topics from recovery of the saker falcon population in the North-Hungarian Plain, to empowering internal ambassadors within organisations for urban nature restoration, to ex situ conservation of the Rwandan miniature water lily.
One symposium that resonated with our work was delivered by the Society of Conservation Biology Impact Evaluation Working Group. Speakers discussed the challenges of assessing whether conservation actions are truly responsible for observed outcomes, from evaluating the effectiveness of protected areas using Earth observation data to measuring the impacts of conservation funding and national policy. A recurring message was the importance of robust methods, transparent reporting, and reproducibility when evaluating conservation actions. Something we strongly advocate for at Conservation Evidence, too.
An unexpected highlight was a session of talks that explored the role of art in conservation. It was a reminder that, though evidence is essential for conservation decision-making, evidence alone may not be enough to inspire people to take action in the first place. Perhaps art can complement science to create deeper emotional connections with audiences…
