Congratulations on Research in Ecology being indexed in Scopus.
2024-10-31
Emerging Strategies for Ecological Conservation: Challenging Traditional Theories and Advancing Sustainable Solutions
Authors
-
Sonia Khawand
School of Business, Lebanese International University, Beirut 146404, Lebanon
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30564/re.v7i2.8815Abstract
Ecological conservation is at a crossroad as environmental stresses around the world intensify and traditional models of conservation exhibit intrinsic weaknesses in their response to present and future problems. In the project, we evaluated novel approaches integrating adaptive management, technological innovations, and community-based action towards more efficient sustainable conservation results and ecosystem resilience. The multi-site experimental design was based on comparison between conventional reserve management and novel integrative models implemented in diverse ecological zones. Data were collected over a period of three years employing remote sensing technologies, in situ biodiversity assessments, and large socioeconomic surveys. These instruments enabled a robust and multi-dimensional measurement of variables such as species diversity, ecological resilience, community engagement, and stakeholder engagement. The results indicate that adaptive strategies significantly enhance real-time decision-making abilities and enhance long-term ecosystem resilience. Further, technology-driven monitoring greatly enhances data accuracy, responsiveness, and early warning capabilities. Besides that, community-based conservation initiatives were found to be pivotal in facilitating local stewardship, enhancing participatory governance, and enabling more adaptive and adaptive policy systems. This research rejects mainstream conservation paradigms by placing importance on flexibility, interdisciplinarity, and inclusivity of governance systems in effectively mitigating the impacts of climate change and loss of biodiversity. Our findings offer strong evidence that emerging paradigms of conservation can provide greater ecological and social sustainability than traditional methods. These results support the need for a paradigm shift towards conservation strategies that are dynamic, collaborative, and technologically integrated, with significant implications for policy formulation as well as operational environmental management.
Keywords:
Adaptive Management; Biodiversity; Climate Change; Ecological Conservation; Ecosystem Resilience; Sustainability; Technological InnovationsReferences
[1] Shivanna, K.R., 2022. Climate change and its impact on biodiversity and human welfare. Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy. Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy. 88(2), 160–171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43538-022-00073-6
[2] Liu, A., 2023. Introduction to environmental economics: Balancing ecology and economy. Journal of Agricultural Science and Botany. 8(2), 228.
[3] Tong, N., 2024. Environmental ethics and ecological preservation: Integrating social justice for sustainable development. International Journal of Religion. 5(10), 5211–5218. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61707/cv5z7t02
[4] Griffin, A.S., Callen, A., Klop-Toker, K., et al., 2020. Compassionate conservation clashes with conservation biology: Should empathy, compassion, and deontological moral principles drive conservation practice?. Frontiers in Psychology. 11, 1139. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01139
[5] Stralberg, D., Carroll, C., Nielsen, S.E., 2020. Toward a climate-informed North American protected areas network: Incorporating climate-change refugia and corridors in conservation planning. Conservation Letters. 13(5), e12712. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12712
[6] Hilty, J.A., Keeley, A.T.H., Lidicker, W.Z.Jr., et al., 2019. Corridor Ecology: Linking Landscapes for Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Adaptation, 2nd ed. Island Press: London, UK.
[7] Pédarros, E., 2023. Towards Coexistence: The Implications of a Complex and Adaptive Approach of Social-Ecological Systems for Conservation Sciences and Practices [PhD thesis]. Université Claude Bernard: Lyon, France. DOI: https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-04601828f
[8] Kareiva, P., Marvier, M., 2012. Conservation Science: Balancing the Needs of People and Nature. Roberts, USA.
[9] Schneider, R.J., 2020. Life and legacy: Thoreau's life. Available from: http://thoreausociety.org/life-legacy
[10] Olmos-Martínez, E., Romero-Schmidt, H.L., Blázquez, M.D.C., et al., 2022. Human communities in protected natural areas and biodiversity conservation. Diversity. 14(6), 441. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/d14060441
[11] Dekhakhena, A., 2024. The transcendentalist roots of sustainability: Ralph Waldo Emerson and the precedent for the Sustainable Development Goals education. The Journal of Environmental Education. 1–12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2024.2402531
[12] Sun, L., Booth, A., Sworn, K., 2024. Adaptability, Scalability and Sustainability (ASaS) of complex health interventions: A systematic review of theories, models and frameworks. Implementation Science. 19(1), 52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-024-01375-7
[13] Craig, R.K., Ruhl, J.B., 2020. Adaptive management for ecosystem services across the wildland-urban interface. International Journal of Conservation. 14(1), 611–626. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.986
[14] Gibble, R.E., Miller, L., Harwell, M.C., 2020. Using stakeholder engagement, translational science, and decision support tools for ecosystem-based management in the Florida Everglades. In: O'Higgins, T., Lago, M., DeWitt, T. (eds.). Ecosystem-Based Management, Ecosystem Services, and Aquatic Biodiversity. Springer: Cham, Germany. pp. 517–541. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45843-0_26
[15] LoSchiavo, A., 2011. Everglades adaptive management. Available from: https://cw-environment.erdc.dren.mil/webinars/25Oct11EvergladesAM.pdf (October 25 2011 ).
[16] Lockie, S., Bartelet, H.A., Ritchie, B.W., et al., 2024. Australians support multi-pronged action to build ecosystem resilience in the Great Barrier Reef. Biological Conservation. 299, 110789. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110789
[17] Pacheco da Costa, T., Bordalo da Costa, D.M., Murphy, F., 2024. A systematic review of real-time data monitoring and its potential application to support dynamic life cycle inventories. Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 105, 107416. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107416
[18] Ortega, M., Doblas, J., Feitosa, R., et al., 2022. Improving deforestation detection on tropical rainforests using Sentinel-1 data and convolutional neural networks. Remote Sensing. 14(14), 3290. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14143290
[19] Gurney, G.G., Adams, V.M., Álvarez-Romero, J.G., et al., 2023. Area-based conservation: Taking stock and looking ahead. One Earth. 6(2), 98–104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.01.012
[20] Kumarasan, T., Murugan, D., Benedict, M., et al., 2020. Drone-enabled wildlife monitoring system: Revolutionizing conservation efforts. NeuroQuantology. 18, 20245. DOI: https://doi.org/10.48047/nq.2020.18.8.nq20245
[21] Esmail, N., McPherson, J.M., Abulu, L., et al., 2023. What's on the horizon for community-based conservation? Emerging threats and opportunities. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 38(7), 666–680. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.03.004
[22] Coastal Community Associations: A model for sustainable development at the Kenyan coast, Nature 2030, 2021, Available from: https://iucn.org/news/commission-environmental-economic-and-social-policy/202101/coastal-community-associations-a-model-sustainable-development-kenyan-coast
[23] Syukri, M., Mawardi, M.S., Anabela, L., et al., 2024. Balancing conservation and community welfare: Enhancing the management of marine protected areas in Indonesia. Éditions AFD. 308, pp. 11–14. Available from: https://www.afd.fr/en/ressources/balancing-conservation-and-community-welfare-enhancing-management-marine-protected-areas-indonesia.
[24] Laudari, H.K., Sapkota, L.M., Maraseni, T., et al., 2024. Community forestry in a changing context: A perspective from Nepal's mid-hill. Land Use Policy. 138, 107018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.107018
[25] Chaffin, B.C., Garmestani, A.S., Angeler, D.G., et al., 2016. Biological invasions, ecological resilience, and adaptive governance. Ecology and Society. 21(2), 44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.04.040
[26] Akamani, K., 2020. Integrating deep ecology and adaptive governance for sustainable development: Implications for protected areas management. Sustainability. 12(14), 5757. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145757
[27] During, R., Van Assche, K., Van Dam, R., 2022. Relating social and ecological resilience: Dutch citizen's initiatives for biodiversity. Sustainability. 14(7), 3857. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14073857
[28] Paauw, M., Scown, M., Triyanti, A., et al., 2022. Adaptive governance of river deltas under accelerating environmental change. Utrecht Law Review. 18(2), 30–50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36633/ulr.803
[29] Hasyim F., 2021. Ralph Waldo Emerson's principle on environmental ethics. Lire Journal (Journal of Linguistics and Literature. 5(2), 126–149. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33019/lire.v5i2.110
[30] Otundo, M.R., 2024. Enhancing the sustainability of blue economy projects in Kenya's coastal region: The role of strategic grassroots community participation in community-based organization initiatives [Ph.D.]. University of Nairobi: Nairobi, Kenya. pp. 125–127.
[31] McDonald, R.I., Mansur, A.V., Verburg, P.H., 2012. Land-use planning and biodiversity conservation: How to combine adaptive management with spatial planning. Journal of Environmental Management. 93(1), 194–202.
[32] Birgé, H.E., Allen, C.R., Garmestani, A.S., et al., 2016. Adaptive management for ecosystem services. Journal of Environmental Management. 183(Part 2), 343–352. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.09.035
[33] Delacámara, G., O'Higgins, T.G., Lago, M., et al., 2020. Ecosystem-based management: Moving from concept to practice. In: Higgins, T., Lago, M., DeWitt, T. (eds.). Ecosystem-Based Management, Ecosystem Services, and Aquatic Biodiversity. Springer Nature: Berlin, Germany. pp. 39–60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45843-0_3
[34] Turner, W., Lambin, E., Reenberg, A., 2015. The emergence of land change science for global environmental change and sustainability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106(52), 20667–20671.
[35] Hahn, N., Bombaci, S., Wittemyer, G., 2021. Identifying Conservation Technology Needs, Barriers, and Opportunities. Scientific Reports. 12(1), 4802. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-567968/v1
[36] BID-REX, 2019. Better data, better decisions: Increasing the impact of biodiversity information. Technical report of phase 1 of the project BID-REX – from biodiversity data to decisions: Enhancing natural value through improved regional development policies. PGI01505, March 2019 .
[37] Sterling, E.J., Betley, E., Sigouin, A., et al., 2017. Assessing the evidence for stakeholder engagement in biodiversity conservation. Biological Conservation. 209, 159–171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.02.008
[38] Borrini-Feyerabend, G., Kothari, A., Oviedo, G., 2013. Decolonizing nature conservation: A critical agenda for conservation policy and practice. Conservation and Society. 11(2), 137–149.
[39] Danielsen, F., Burgess, N.D., Balmford, A., 2009. Nature-based solutions for poverty alleviation and environmental conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 24(7), 387394.
[40] Suich, H., Dawson, N., 2023. Review of Methods for Assessing the Social Impacts of Conservation. IUCN: Gland, Switzerland.
[41] Lele, S., Rader, R., 2005. Linking theoretical models of conservation behavior with emerging practices. Conservation Letters. 4(3), 201–210.
[42] Castillo, A.R., Brown, M.E., Rivera, L., 2016. Integrating local knowledge and remote sensing in conservation planning. Environmental Management. 58(4), 735746.
[43] Cao, S., Liu, Z., Li, W., et al., 2021. Balancing ecological conservation with socioeconomic development. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment. 50(5), 1–12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-020-01448-z
[44] Bennett, N.D., Nelson, F.J., Quinn, J.M., 2014. Advancing ecosystem management: New technologies and emerging strategies. Ecological Applications. 24(2), 313–327.
[45] Hilty, J.A., Keeley, A.T.H., Lidicker, W.Z.Jr., et al., 2019. Corridor Ecology: Linking Landscapes for Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Adaptation, 2nd ed. Island Press: London, UK.
Downloads
How to Cite
Khawand, S. (2025). Emerging Strategies for Ecological Conservation: Challenging Traditional Theories and Advancing Sustainable Solutions. Research in Ecology, 7(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.30564/re.v7i2.8815
Issue
Article Type
Articles
License
Copyright © 2025 Sonia Khawand
This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.
