Training future generations to deliver evidence-based conservation and ecosystem management

Citation

Downey H, Amano T, Cadotte M, Cook CN, Cooke SJ, Haddaway NR, Jones JPG, Littlewood N, Walsh JC, Abrahams MI, Adum G, Akasaka M, Alves JA, Antwis RE & Park KJ (2021) Training future generations to deliver evidence-based conservation and ecosystem management. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 2 (1), Art. No.: e12032. https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12032

Abstract
1. To be effective, the next generation of conservation practitioners and managers need to be critical thinkers with a deep understanding of how to make evidence-based decisions and of the value of evidence synthesis. 2. If, as educators, we do not make these priorities a core part of what we teach, we are failing to prepare our students to make an effective contribution to conservation practice. 3. To help overcome this problem we have created open access online teaching materials in multiple languages that are stored in Applied Ecology Resources. So far, 117 educators from 23 countries have acknowledged the importance of this and are already teaching or about to teach skills in appraising or using evidence in conservation decision-making. This includes 145 undergraduate, postgraduate or professional development courses. 4. We call for wider teaching of the tools and skills that facilitate evidence-based conservation and also suggest that providing online teaching materials in multiple languages could be beneficial for improving global understanding of other subject areas.

Keywords
critical thinking; education; evidence; open access

Notes
Additional co-authors: Eduardo C. Arellano, Jan Axmacher, Holly Barclay, Lesley Batty, Ana Benítez-López, Joseph R. Bennett, Maureen J. Berg, Sandro Bertolino, Duan Biggs, Friederike C. Bolam, Tim Bray, Barry W. Brook, Joseph W. Bull, Zuzana Burivalova, Mar Cabeza, Alienor L. M. Chauvenet, Alec P. Christie, Lorna Cole, Alison J. Cotton, Sam Cotton, Sara A. O. Cousins, Dylan Craven, Will Cresswell, Jeremy J. Cusack, Sarah E. Dalrymple, Zoe G. Davies, Anita Diaz, Jennifer A. Dodd, Adam Felton, Erica Fleishman, Charlie J. Gardner, Ruth Garside, Arash Ghoddousi, James J. Gilroy, David A. Gill, Jennifer A. Gill, Louise Glew, Matthew J. Grainger, Amelia A. Grass, Stephanie Greshon, Jamie Gundry, Tom Hart, Charlotte R. Hopkins, Caroline Howe, Arlyne Johnson, Kelly W. Jones, Neil R. Jordan, Taku Kadoya, Daphne Kerhoas, Julia Koricheva, Tien Ming Lee, Szabolcs Lengyel, Stuart W. Livingstone, Ashley Lyons, Gráinne McCabe, Jonathan Millett, Chloë Montes Strevens, Adam Moolna, Hannah L. Mossman, Nibedita Mukherjee, Andrés Muñoz-Sáez, Nuno Negrões, Olivia Norfolk, Takeshi Osawa, Sarah Papworth, Jérôme Pellet, Andrea D. Phillott, Joshua M. Plotnik, Dolly Priatna, Alejandra G. Ramos, Nicola Randall, Rob M. Richards, Euan G. Ritchie, David L. Roberts, Ricardo Rocha, Jon Paul Rodríguez, Roy Sanderson, Takehiro Sasaki, Sini Savilaakso, Carl Sayer, Cagan Sekercioglu, Masayuki Senzaki, Grania Smith, Robert J. Smith, Masashi Soga, Carl D. Soulsbury, Mark D. Steer, Gavin Stewart, E. F. Strange, Andrew J. Suggitt, Ralph R. J. Thompson, Stewart Thompson, Ian Thornhill, R. J. Trevelyan, Hope O. Usieta, Oscar Venter, Amanda D. Webber, Rachel L. White, Mark J. Whittingham, Andrew Wilby, Richard W. Yarnell, Veronica Zamora-Gutierrez, William J. Sutherland

Journal
Ecological Solutions and Evidence: Volume 2, Issue 1

• Published version