TY - JOUR

T1 - Typology of public outreach for biodiversity conservation projects in Spain

AU - Jiménez, Amanda

AU - Iniesta-Arandia, Irene

AU - Muñoz-Santos, Maria

AU - Martín-López, Berta

AU - Jacobson, Susan K.

AU - Benayas, Javier

PY - 2014/6

Y1 - 2014/6

N2 - Conservation education and outreach programs are a key approach to promote public understanding of the importance of biodiversity conservation. We reviewed 85 biodiversity conservation projects supported by the Spanish Ministry of Environment's Biodiversity Foundation. Through content analysis and descriptive statistics, we examined how the projects carried out communication, education, and public awareness and participation (CEPA) actions. We also used multivariate statistical analysis to develop a typology of 4 classes of biodiversity conservation projects on the basis of CEPA implementation. The classifications were delineated by purpose of CEPA, level of integration of CEPA actions, type of CEPA goals, main CEPA stakeholders, and aim of conservation. Our results confirm the existence of 2 key positions: CEPA has intrinsic value (i.e., they supposed the implementation of any CEPA action indirectly supported conservation) and CEPA is an instrument for achieving conservation goals. We also found that most CEPA actions addressed general audiences and school children, ignored minority groups and women, and did not include evaluation. The characteristics of the 4 types of projects and their frequency of implementation in the sample reflect the need for better integration of different types of actions (communication, education, and participation) and improved fostering of participation of multiple stakeholders in developing policy and implementing management strategies.

AB - Conservation education and outreach programs are a key approach to promote public understanding of the importance of biodiversity conservation. We reviewed 85 biodiversity conservation projects supported by the Spanish Ministry of Environment's Biodiversity Foundation. Through content analysis and descriptive statistics, we examined how the projects carried out communication, education, and public awareness and participation (CEPA) actions. We also used multivariate statistical analysis to develop a typology of 4 classes of biodiversity conservation projects on the basis of CEPA implementation. The classifications were delineated by purpose of CEPA, level of integration of CEPA actions, type of CEPA goals, main CEPA stakeholders, and aim of conservation. Our results confirm the existence of 2 key positions: CEPA has intrinsic value (i.e., they supposed the implementation of any CEPA action indirectly supported conservation) and CEPA is an instrument for achieving conservation goals. We also found that most CEPA actions addressed general audiences and school children, ignored minority groups and women, and did not include evaluation. The characteristics of the 4 types of projects and their frequency of implementation in the sample reflect the need for better integration of different types of actions (communication, education, and participation) and improved fostering of participation of multiple stakeholders in developing policy and implementing management strategies.

KW - Communication

KW - Conservation policy

KW - Education

KW - Outreach

KW - Participation

KW - Public investment

KW - Typology

KW - Sustainability Science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84900430560&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/cobi.12220

DO - 10.1111/cobi.12220

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 24400698

AN - SCOPUS:84900430560

VL - 28

SP - 829

EP - 840

JO - Conservation Biology

JF - Conservation Biology

SN - 0888-8892

IS - 3

ER -