Improving conservation effectiveness and addressing the planning-implementation gap : a perspective from Wisconsin

Author / Creator

Carter, Sarah Kathleen, 1971- dissertant

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Online

Physical

Summary

Conservation planning emerged several decades ago to identify where conservation action can most effectively and efficiently protect biodiversity. The field has since undergone many technological a...

Conservation planning emerged several decades ago to identify where conservation action can most effectively and efficiently protect biodiversity. The field has since undergone many technological advances. Important questions remain, however, including whether conservation plans influence conservation actions, whether the properties protected were actually threatened, and whether the factors considered in developing plans are the key information needed to enable implementation to occur. I addressed these questions using Wisconsin as a study area and land protection as an evaluation metric. I first asked whether statewide conservation plans and local conservation projects were associated with changes in the quantity, location, and landcover type of subsequently protected lands. I found a weak relationship between statewide plans and land protection actions: two of four plans were associated with increased land protection. However, 58% of lands protected within 20 years of plan completion were outside plan boundaries. Conversely, the approval of local-scale land protection projects was positively associated with subsequent land protection actions. I then improved the utility of existing, biologically-based conservation plans by incorporating data on vulnerability to and threat from projected housing development. I found that 25-34% of priority areas in plans merit immediate conservation attention, as they are both highly vulnerable and highly threatened. Conversely, 20-26% of priority areas are vulnerable yet face low threat, likely allowing time for new, large-scale conservation initiatives to succeed. Finally, I evaluated implementation of conservation plans over time, and identified environmental, institutional, and socio-economic factors associated with implementation success. I found that 45% of lands inside plans are currently protected, compared to 5% of lands outside plans. Key factors explaining successful implementation were 1) prior successful land protection, 2) having agency authorization for land protection in place before plan completion, and 3) the presence of open water. The latter two factors are priorities in the agency's land protection policy. My findings suggest that broad-scale conservation plans are most likely to influence land protection actions when they are linked to specific, local projects, when threat and vulnerability characteristics are used to prioritize implementation actions, and when plans consider institutional and policy factors that may facilitate action.

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