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[Nature] Conservation Evidence

“Conservation Evidence is a free, authoritative information resource designed to support decisions about how to maintain and restore global biodiversity.

 

We summarise evidence from the scientific literature (studies) about the effects of conservation actions such as methods of habitat or species management. We produce synopses of evidence that review the effectiveness of all actions you could implement to conserve a given species group or habitat or to tackle a particular conservation issue. Expert panels are then asked to assess the effectiveness (or not) of actions, based on the summarized evidence (for more details see What Works in Conservation). We also publish new evidence in our online Conservation Evidence Journal.

 

Our ongoing review process continually extracts evidence from journals and other sources of evidence. So far we have searched over 330 English journals, with 30 important conservation journals (such as Conservation Biology, Biological Conservation, Ecology, Journal of Applied Ecology, Oryx) and systematic reviews published by the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence searched regularly. We have also searched over 300 non-English journals.  In addition, we search 'grey literature' such as report series to focus on particular species groups or habitats. For more details see methods 'Finding evidence'.

 

As well as the existing synopses, we are currently developing new synopses on a range of subjects (see protocols). Additional topics are also being added to the synopses on the control of invasive species. We are also currently updating the synopsis on the conservation of birds.

 

The idea is to give conservationists easy access to the latest and most relevant knowledge to support conservation policy or management decisions.

 

Simply search for your species, habitat or issue of interest. Our site will present you with a list of possible actions you could take, along with a plain English summary of the available evidence for whether each one is effective (or not). It will also provide expert assessment of the effectiveness, based on the summarized evidence (see What Works in Conservation).

 

We do not make recommendations. This is because it is difficult to give evidence-based conservation advice that is appropriate for every context. Instead, we provide evidence and an assessment of that evidence, which should be interpreted by conservationists who understand their own site and national or regional situation.” (About us)