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Ecol Sol and Evidence - 2025 - Buřivalová - An open‐contributions platform for evidence on forest conservation1,013.54 kB
Published VersionCC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
An open-contributions platform for evidence on forest conservation
Ecological Solutions and Evidence, Vol.6(2), pp.1-9
2025
Abstract
Effective decision-making in the protection of nature should be informed by science. Yet, decision-makers often choose conservation strategies without consulting all relevant evidence. This is partly due to evidence being hidden behind paywalls, presented in overly technical language, and scattered across various journals. To facilitate direct use of evidence, we developed an interactive platform designed specifically for practitioners, allowing them to explore a wide range of questions. A key innovation we describe in this article is the platform's transformation into a system open to contributions from any scientist or practitioner. We analysed how evidence has accumulated under this new system for the strategy 'Reforestation and Forest Restoration'. We found that over 1 year of community contributions, 27% of publications found during a more systematic search were added to the platform, indicating a promising trajectory. The future success of the platform will depend on encouraging individual contributions and documenting, as well as mitigating, potential biases. Solution. By transferring the responsibility of sharing the evidence on what works in conservation from a select group of experts to the broader science and practice community, we contribute to addressing the issue of evidence underuse that is still prevalent in conservation, ultimately making it more effective and transparent.
Details
- Title
- An open-contributions platform for evidence on forest conservation
- Authors
- Zuzana Burivalova (Corresponding Author) - University of Wisconsin–MadisonGwendolyn A. Richardson - University of Wisconsin–MadisonBennett Rabach - University of Wisconsin–MadisonSharif A. Mukul - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Tropical Forests and People Research CentreRhett A. Butler
- Publication details
- Ecological Solutions and Evidence, Vol.6(2), pp.1-9
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.1002/2688-8319.70028
- ISSN
- 2688-8319
- Copyright note
- © 2025 The Author(s). Ecological Solutions and Evidence published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
- Data Availability
- All information extracted from studies is publicly accessible on ConservationEffectiveness.org/download/ (Conservation Effectiveness, 2024) and a list of publications from Figure 2 is available on the repository figshare (Burivalova et al., 2025).
- Organisation Unit
- Tropical Forests and People Research Centre
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991127096602621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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