Money for Nothing? A Call for Empirical Evaluation of Biodiversity Conservation Investments

Background

The authors assert that while the ecological aspects of conservation efforts are highly investigated and supported by empirical evidence, the policy aspects are not. In response, they argue that conservation policy measures must adopt program evaluation methods that would allow one to determine if intervention would be viable. 

Conclusions & Takeaway

The authors claim that quality of conservation efforts are critical to success; their effectiveness needs to be evaluated in order to inform future programs, especially when resources for these programs are limited. The authors ultimately provide a four-tiered rule for evaluating conservation effectiveness, stressing that some money invested in conservation needs to be earmarked for evaluation.