Stakeholder Engagement for Biodiversity Conservation Goals: Assessing the Status of the Evidence

Conservation organizations and governments have employed various methods to engage stakeholders, ranging from passive communication to full collaborative partnerships. Stakeholder engagement can be driven by external actors or can be self-organized, where stakeholders have active control over resource management and operate independently of external institutions. The importance of stakeholder engagement in biodiversity conservation is rooted in democratic and equity aims, including reducing marginalization of underrepresented groups, increasing stakeholder trust and ability to act on decisions, and promoting social learning. Pragmatic arguments also highlight the potential benefits of increased diversity in decision-making, including the development of more creative solutions, higher quality and durability of decisions, and reduced conflict between stakeholders. Despite the emphasis on stakeholder engagement in biodiversity conservation, there is a lack of evidence-based studies on the effectiveness of different approaches. This comprehensive literature review aimed to compile and assess the documented evidence from externally driven and self-organized efforts around the world over the past 15 years to engage stakeholders at the local scale regarding biodiversity conservation goals. The review followed an a priori protocol adapted from the ‘‘Guidelines for Systematic Reviews in Environmental Management’’ developed by the Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation at Bangor University. Search terms were based on expert review and a scoping process, and focused on peer-reviewed and grey literature. All articles written in English were considered, and the search was restricted to work published since 2000 due to the volume of literature available and the changing landscape of engagement approaches and terminology in recent decades. Information was synthesized from background documents, case studies, and meta-analyses to identify patterns relating to externally driven stakeholder engagement, self-organized stakeholder action, and both self-organized and externally driven engagement to inform recommendations. Outcomes were classified among four attributes of successful (or effective) stakeholder engagement as having led to: (1) behavior change; (2) attitudinal change; (3) biodiversity conservation; or (4) economic benefit. The review evaluated 148 references, designating 30 as meta-analyses of high and medium relevance and 35 as case studies that were strong on relative efficacy of methods with high and medium relevance. The majority of the high- and medium-relevance cases and meta-analyses relate to externally driven stakeholder engagement, with only three relating to self-organized engagement. Of the 35 cases, 94% reported success in at least one of the four outcomes. By category, 74% of cases reported success in behavioral change, 51% reported success in attitudinal change, 40% reported success in conserving biodiversity, and 86% reported some type of economic benefit outcome. The results of this review highlight the importance of stakeholder engagement in biodiversity conservation and provide insights into the effectiveness of different approaches. The findings suggest that stakeholder engagement can lead to positive outcomes, including behavior change, attitudinal change, biodiversity conservation, and economic benefits. However, the review also notes that there is a need for more evidence-based studies on the effectiveness of different approaches to stakeholder engagement. The review's findings have implications for conservation organizations and governments seeking to engage stakeholders in biodiversity conservation efforts. The results suggest that externally driven stakeholder engagement is more prevalent in the literature, but self-organized stakeholder action can also be an effective approach. The review's conclusions highlight the importance of considering both externally driven and self-organized stakeholder engagement in biodiversity conservation efforts. The review's methodology and findings provide a foundation for future research on stakeholder engagement in biodiversity conservation. The results of this review can inform the development of more effective stakeholder engagement approaches and contribute to the advancement of biodiversity conservation goals.