The idea of “governance” is central to how collaborative conservation works. In fact, collaborative conservation and democracy share several key principles: they both involve different stakeholders in decision-making processes; they both work best through transparent communication and accountability; and they both promote the idea of shared governance.
Our partners with the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute recently co-authored a report that looks at how effectively governance structures work from the perspective of participants in the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. Here, “collaborative governance” refers to the processes and structures that enable various stakeholders to work together effectively to achieve common goals in forest landscape restoration. The authors used a survey to assess specific aspects of collaborative governance, including “principled engagement, shared motivation, and capacity for joint action.” The results point out areas where collaboration is working well, as well as opportunities to improve. The report also created a way to monitor current and future collaborative efforts.
While internal practices can affect how the collaborative process unfolds, governance structures can also impact collaborative conservation outcomes in a different way: external policies can dictate how conservation projects are planned and implemented (this, of course, is a statement that will surprise absolutely no one). Matt Luizza (Fellows Cohort 4) recently co-authored an article in Conservation Biology that explores the impacts of these external structures, given that “a central objective of environmental governance … is to ensure that conservation actions achieve their intended outcomes for the conservation of biodiversity and the well-being of people.” Yet the authors found that there is a significant lack of research that explicitly links governance types with conservation outcomes. Improving the availability of this information will be “critical for enhancing understanding of the role of governance in conservation projects and improving conservation outcomes.”
These two articles remind us that both internal and external governance structures impact the ability of stakeholders to work together effectively to make decisions and achieve common goals.
– Allison Brody, PhD
Our Associate Director of Learning
This article is part of our monthly “Scholarly & Applied” series. Here we review research to guide our practice. Please reach out with suggestions for what we should cover! CCC Fellows and staff are indicated by bold font.
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