Collaboration & Conservation

Watch our video on Cross-boundary collaboration for action-based conservation in the Himalayas

Conservation science is advancing rapidly, yet the majority of research overlooks a key factor that can play a major role in shaping the outcomes of conservation initiatives: collaboration. It is important that the benefits and limitations of incorporating collaboration into conservation and specifically into systematic conservation planning are understood. Therefore, by providing a general framework for considering collaboration in conservation planning is an important step to facilitate effective collaboration. Recent work shows that cross-boundary collaboration can have both positive and negative impacts on the outcomes of conservation and management efforts for protected areas, ecosystems, threatened and invasive species. The feasibility of collaboration, its likely effects and associated trade-offs should therefore be explicitly incorporated into conservation science and planning.

Selected Publications

Cross-boundary collaboration: key to the conservation puzzle
Kark S., Tulloch A., Gordon A., Mazor T., Bunnefeld N. and Levin N. (2015). Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (COSUST) Special Issue on ‘Partnerships in Sustainability Governance and Transformation’ 12 :12–24.

Large-scale conservation planning in a multinational marine environment: cost matters
Mazor T., Giakoumi S., Kark S. and Possingham H.P. (2014). Ecological Applications 24:1115–1130.