Priority issues in nature and biodiversity conservation: needs identified by Swiss practitioners
A growing gap exists worldwide between research and practice in the field of biodiversity conservation. This lack of integration may be responsible for the failure of scientists' conservation suggestions to be efficiently implemented. On the one hand, evidence-based, peer-reviewed management recommendations do not effectively reach conservation practitioners; on the other hand, the questions addressed by researchers often do not meet the requirements of practice. We conducted a nation-wide survey of Swiss conservation practitioners in order to identify their needs and expectations of useful scientific information. The results provide a basis for building a practice-oriented agenda for future conservation research which may contribute to bridging the research-implementation gap in biodiversity conservation in Switzerland.
Uni Bern supervisors
Veronika Braunisch, Jérôme Pellet, Raphaël Arlettaz
External collaborators
Dr. Robert Alistair Home, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL
Dr. Daniela Pauli, Swiss Biodiversity Forum, Bern
Publications
Braunisch, V., R. Home, J. Pellet & R. Arlettaz. 2012. Praxisrelevante Biodiversitätsforschung: Ansprüche Schweizer Naturschutzfachleute an die Wissenschaft / Recherche sur la biodiversité: exigences des praticiens suisses à l’adresse de la communauté scientifique. Pages 19-25 N+L-Inside, 4/2012, pp. 19-25. (PDF, 1.4 MB)
Braunisch, V., R. Home, J. Pellet & R. Arlettaz. 2012. Conservation science relevant to action: A research agenda identified and prioritized by practitioners. Biological Conservation 153: 201-210. (PDF, 417KB)
Chapron, G. & R. Arlettaz. 2008. Conservation: academics should ‘conserve or perish’. Nature 451: p. 127. (PDF, 56KB)
