The role and use of experts and expert knowledge in spatial conservation prioritization

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Decision-making in conservation should be efficient and effective as time and resources are typically limited. Conservation planning is one process by which stakeholders collaboratively make decisions when attempting to ensure the persistence of biodiversity. Spatial prioritization is the activity of applying quantitative data to spatial analysis to select locations for conservation investment and is a distinct process within conservation planning.The use of experts in spatial prioritization, and more generally in conservation planning, is widely accepted and advocated, but there is no general operational model for how best to involve them. Acceptable standards of practice in selecting experts and in applying specific techniques for eliciting expert knowledge need to be developed and tested in different contexts to ensure robust and defensible results of spatial prioritization processes.Although experts and expert knowledge have limitations, including them in spatial prioritization can produce many benefits, such as increased robustness of decisions and time and cost savings. Timeous, decisive, cost-efficient and robust decision-making is essential when attempting to stem the continued loss of biodiversity across the world. Although widely used, very little research has been conducted into the role of experts in spatial prioritization processes.In this research, the role and use of experts and expert knowledge in spatial prioritization was explored through the following processes:1) a review of the peer-reviewed literature examining the role, and different types, of experts included in spatial prioritization studies (Chapter 2) to identify the patterns of their involvement;2) a study examining the process and the differences between individual and group expert outputs and outcomes produced from a typical spatial prioritization workshop to provide a baseline against which experts might be identified for future involvement (Chapter 3); and3) a study examining the knowledge of local community and land management experts and their ability to predict private landowners self-reported attitudes towards conservation, willingness to partner with organizations and behavior relating to conservation, aimed to test if expert knowledge might replace interviews when mapping conservation opportunity (Chapter 4).The main findings of this research are, firstly, that experts primarily contributed to spatial prioritization through mapping of species, habitats and ecosystems (that can be input into spatial prioritization analyses), and specifically also the selection of areas important for implementing conservation action (e.g., priority conservation areas).Secondly, individual experts contributed different expertise to the spatial prioritization processes in which they were involved, sometimes despite being considered experts in the same field. Individual experts differed to each other in the knowledge they contributed, decisions they made, and in the information content and its spatial representation. Groups of experts collaborating to produce the same information were more effective at capturing expert knowledge than individuals.Thirdly, when seeking to map human and social data to inform the mapping of conservation opportunity, experts were unable to reliably score private landowner's attitudes towards conservation, willingness to partner with organizations and behavior relating to conservation. Experts were able though, to provide accurate knowledge on the general attitudes of landowners, the context of the area in which the research was conducted, and the challenges that landowners in the area face.Collectively, this research can be used to inform the development of standards of best practice to ensure the most effective and cost efficient approach to integrating spatial prioritization software with expert knowledge.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University