文章基本信息

标题：In Pursuit of Knowledge: Addressing Barriers to Effective Conservation Evaluation
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作者：Madeleine C Bottrill ; Marc Hockings ; Hugh P Possingham 等
期刊名称：Ecology and Society
印刷版ISSN：1708-3087
电子版ISSN：1708-3087
出版年度：2011
卷号：16
期号：2
出版社：The Resilience Alliance
摘要：Evaluation, the process of assessing the effectiveness of programs and activities, has gainedincreasing attention in the conservation sector as programs seek to account for investments, measure theirimpacts, and adapt interventions to improve future outcomes. We conducted a country-wide evaluation ofterrestrial-based conservation programs in Samoa. Though rarely applied, the benefit of evaluating multipleprojects at once is that it highlights factors which are persistent and influential across the entire conservationsector. We found mixed success in achieving goals among conservation programs; yet this result issurrounded by uncertainty because of the quality of existing evidence on project outcomes. We explorethe role of different components of the conservation management system, i.e., context, planning, inputs,processes, and outputs, in facilitating and/or constraining collection of data on project outcomes, and therebyassessment of whether projects were successful. Our study identified a number of direct and indirect barriersthat affected the capacity of projects to carry out informative evaluations and generate knowledge onconservation progress in Samoa. These attributes and mechanisms include: the availability and managementof data, design and planning of projects, and systems for reporting among donors and proponents. Toovercome these barriers to evaluation, we believe that a shift in institutional approaches to reportingoutcomes is needed, from a reflective way of thinking to a more prospective outlook
关键词：conservation; effectiveness; evaluation; Pacific Islands; success