A novel framework for analyzing conservation impacts: evaluation, theory, and marine protected areas

作者:Mascia Michael B*; Fox Helen E; Glew Louise; Ahmadia Gabby N; Agrawal Arun; Barnes Megan; Basurto Xavier; Craigie Ian; Darling Emily; Geldmann Jonas; Gill David; Rice Susie Holst; Jensen Olaf P; Lester Sarah E; McConney Patrick; Mumby Peter J; Nenadovic Mateja; Parks John E; Pomeroy Robert S; White Alan T
来源:Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2017, 1399(1): 93-115.
DOI:10.1111/nyas.13428

摘要

Environmental conservation initiatives, including marine protected areas (MPAs), have proliferated in recent decades. Designed to conserve marine biodiversity, many MPAs also seek to foster sustainable development. As is the case for many other environmental policies and programs, the impacts of MPAs are poorly understood. Social-ecological systems, impact evaluation, and common-pool resource governance are three complementary scientific frameworks for documenting and explaining the ecological and social impacts of conservation interventions. We review key components of these three frameworks and their implications for the study of conservation policy, program, and project outcomes. Using MPAs as an illustrative example, we then draw upon these three frameworks to describe an integrated approach for rigorous empirical documentation and causal explanation of conservation impacts. This integrated three-framework approach for impact evaluation of governance in social-ecological systems (3FIGS) accounts for alternative explanations, builds upon and advances social theory, and provides novel policy insights in ways that no single approach affords. Despite the inherent complexity of social-ecological systems and the difficulty of causal inference, the 3FIGS approach can dramatically advance our understanding of, and the evidentiary basis for, effective MPAs and other conservation initiatives.

  • 出版日期2017-7
  • 单位rutgers