078 - Promoting conservation through behaviour-centred solutions

078 - Promoting conservation through behaviour-centred solutions

Latest version in this language: Version for electronic vote | Published on: 01 Sep 2020

RECOGNISING the severe threats facing global biodiversity and ecosystems, as stated in the 2019 Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment Report and Global Biodiversity Outlook 4 (GBO-4), and that transformative change in our present patterns of production and consumption is required to end biodiversity loss;

RECALLING Aichi Biodiversity Target 1 that “by 2020, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably”;

PROPOSING that awareness itself is not enough for the change necessary to meet global conservation targets;

RECOGNISING that advances in the field of behavioural science have changed our understanding of human decision making and have revealed strategies that can aid in designing effective conservation solutions and policies;

RECALLING that GBO-4 also states that social sciences, including our knowledge of social and cultural drivers, can accelerate progress to tackling the underlying causes of biodiversity loss;

NOTING that many development and health organisations have used behavioural science, social marketing, and design thinking to achieve positive change;

IDENTIFYING behaviour-centred design (BCD) as an approach to behaviour change that integrates knowledge from the behavioural sciences (social psychology, cognitive science, anthropology) with design thinking methodology to identify the target audience(s) and behaviour(s) we must address; to understand motivations, barriers and biases; to generate targeted solutions to those environmental challenges; and to test those solutions with the intended audience before scaling up;

WELCOMING BCD as an expanded tool for conservation efforts;

ACKNOWLEDGING the influence of cultural values and beliefs on behaviour and the need for sensitivity, ethics and integrity in promoting change;

HIGHLIGHTING the critical role that Members play to ensure that solutions using BCD are in all conservation efforts, including when they work with natural-resource users, with corporations/supply chains, with consumers demanding unsustainable products, and with civic/public institutions; and

NOTING specifically the role that zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and museums have in reaching wide audiences (more than one billion visitors annually), as well as the critical role of in situ conservation programmes, and the influence these experiences have in motivating action for biodiversity;

The IUCN World Conservation Congress, at its session in Marseille, France:

1. CALLS ON the Director General to work closely with Members to employ BCD within conservation initiatives and planning;

2. URGES Members to address conservation as a behavioural challenge and to incorporate action alongside raising awareness;

3. REQUESTS that post-2020 goals for biodiversity conservation include measurable targets on behaviour change involving citizens, institutions (governmental and non-governmental) and businesses;

4. URGES governments to embed conservation action and behaviour change within outreach and education programmes, such as the national educational curriculum, on a par with climate change, and to fund such initiatives, building on Resolution 6.084 Environmental education and how to naturalise the spaces in educational centres for healthy development and a better childhood connection with nature (Hawai‘i, 2016);

5. REQUESTS that Members incorporate BCD into programmes that:

a. champion holistic campaigns that include behaviourally-informed change communications, advocacy and citizen engagement efforts aimed at the wider public in increasingly urban-based societies, to engage consumers and drive change through demand (e.g. plastics, palm oil, endangered wildlife), utilising emotional appeals, social incentives, behavioural economics and choice architecture – such as featuring iconic species to capture the public imagination;

b. engage with local resource users, the private sector producers, supply chains and civic/public leaders as a means of driving sustainable practices;

c. develop and enforce policies that protect biodiversity and use resources sustainably;

d. inspire all citizens, including a younger generation, to mobilise and adopt sustainable lifestyles; and

e. plan, manage, interpret and promote protected areas and historic sites; and

6. CALLS ON Members to share research that provides evidence-based lessons to facilitate growth across this field.

The most urgent environmental challenges of our time have one thing in common, to solve them, people must start behaving differently. There is increasing recognition that human behavior is key to addressing the world’s most critical development and environmental challenges. And as such, conservationists must leverage the growing body of behavioral sciences to design efforts with that research at their cores.

For decades, the norm in conservation has been to rely on three key approaches: information sharing, regulation, and economic incentives. Yet each faces challenges in the conservation space. Regulations, even well-designed, can be difficult to enforce; Economic incentives can be powerful, but they are often applied in over-simplified ways, producing unintended consequences. Simply providing new facts and information rarely leads to desired environmental outcomes. On their own, these approaches form an incomplete toolkit for addressing global conservation challenges.

Thanks to new insights in behavioral science, there is a growing suite of strategies that can advance the field. An emerging body of research has shown that emotions play a critical role in our decision-making. Advances in evolutionary biology show that people are inherently social animals and that ‘self-interest’ is more complex than once assumed. Under the right conditions, we excel at cooperation, we seek reciprocity, and we act based on social cues. To get people to change, we need to design solutions that meet people where they are and use the power of emotional appeals, social incentives, and choice architecture as expertly as we apply financial incentives or regulatory frameworks.

Solutions designed with behavioral science at the core (e.g. behavior-centered design, BCD) must become the norm in the conservation field. If behavior is the source of the problem, it must also be central to the solution. Therefore, BCD is as relevant for those working with remote communities on fisheries or agriculture as it is for policymakers as it is for zoos and museums engaging the public in conservation.

In an effort to make nature a part of all people’s lives, thereby creating increased support and action for conservation globally, the #NatureForAll initiative was formally launched at the 2016 WCC. It was based on the concept that the more people experience and connect with nature emotionally, the more support and action there will be for conservation. This has since been detailed in the report, Home to Us All: How Connecting with Nature Helps Us Care for Ourselves and the Earth, which shares evidence that people’s relationship with nature profoundly influences their behaviors toward the Earth.

We want to build on this momentum by providing inclusive platforms that leverage behavioral science and drive sustainable behaviors, whether they be targeted at the general public, local communities, businesses or policymakers. Many of the co-sponsors already engage in relevant efforts (e.g. www.rare.org/center; www.letitgrow.eu/about/; www.waza.site-ym.com/page/Naturerecipients; www.chesterzoo.org/what-you-can-do/campaigns/; www.amnh.org/explore/science-topics/climate-change/climate-change-the-multiplier-effect) and a coordinated approach has the potential to influence societal change at the scale needed to tackle the environmental challenges we now face.

Sources: Bacon & Krpan 2018; Bhanot, S.P. 2018; Byerly, H. et al. 2018; Green, K.M. et al. 2019.
  • Association of Zoos and Aquariums [United States of America]
  • Bristol Clifton and West of England Zoological Society [United Kingdom]
  • British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums [United Kingdom]
  • Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums/ Aquariums et zoos accrédité du Canada [Canada]
  • Canadian Museum of Nature [Canada]
  • Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History - New York [United States of America]
  • Conservation International [United States of America]
  • Endangered Wildlife Trust [South Africa]
  • European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians [Belgium]
  • European Association of Zoos and Aquaria [The Netherlands]
  • Fondo de Conservación El Triunfo A.C. [Mexico]
  • Instituto de Montaña-Asociación Instituto Andino de Montaña [Peru]
  • National Geographic Society [United States of America]
  • Nederlandse Vereniging van Dierentuinen [The Netherlands]
  • North of England Zoological Society (Chester Zoo) [United Kingdom]
  • South African Association for Marine Biological Research [South Africa]
  • Twycross Zoo, East Midland Zoological Society [United Kingdom]
  • Verband der Zoologischen Gaerten (VdZ) [Germany]
  • Wildlife Conservation Society [United States of America]
  • World Association of Zoos and Aquariums [Spain]
  • Zoo Leipzig GmbH [Germany]
  • Zoologische Gesellschaft für Arten- und Populationsschutz e.V. [Germany]
  • Zoologisk Have København [Denmark]
  • Zoos Victoria [Australia]

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