ICCB 2013 Program - Society for Conservation Biology

...............................................
Symposium: Analysing Social Networks for Conservation Decision-making
Room 302
Monday, July 22, 8:00 to 10:00
Organizer(s): Jonathan Rhodes, The University of Queensland; Örjan Bodin, Stockhom Resilience Centre
Monday
Integrating social science with ecology to inform conservation is one of the greatest challenges we face as conservation scientists.
Characterising social systems as networks of interacting actors provides a powerful tool for achieving this. This symposium will
bring together a multidisciplinary panel of speakers to showcase novel approaches for integrating social networks with ecology to
inform conservation decision-making.
The past two decades have seen an explosion of interest in structured approaches to conservation decision-making (Wilson et al.
2009). However, the vast majority of these tools either fail to consider social processes, or consider them in a highly simplified
way. At the same time, analyses of networks of interacting actors, based on tools such as social network theory and game theory,
have emerged as important methods for understanding the influence of social processes on natural resource management success
(Ostrom 1990, Bodin and Prell 2011). Despite this, it is only recently that conservation biologists have begun to integrate social
networks into conservation planning (Bode et al. 2011, Vance-Borland and Holley 2011). By highlighting recent developments
in how the analysis of social networks can be incorporated into conservation decision-making, and the benefits of doing so, this
symposium will make a significant contribution to the ability of conservation scientists and practitioners to integrate human
social processes into biodiversity conservation.
08:00 How might insights gained from stakeholder network analysis be integrated into conservation decision-support
tools
Ken Vance-Borland, The Conservation Planning Institute
08:15 ‘Treating networks seriously’ in conservation management: How a network approach enhances our understanding
of collective action and adaptive capacity
Annica Sandström, Stockholm Resilience Centre
08:30 The Problem of Fit: Comparing Social and Ecological Connectivity in Land-use Planning using a spatially explicit
network approach
Örjan Bodin, Stockholm Resilience Centre
08:45 Assessing the effectiveness of collaboration networks across large-scale conservation corridors
Angela Guerrero-Gonzalez, The University of Queensland
09:00 When do Social Networks Matter for Dynamic Conservation Planning Problems
Jonathan Rhodes, The University of Queensland
09:15 The organisation of social networks for the optimal management of ecological networks
Iadine Chadés, CSIRO
09:30 Interactions between independent mangers changes the invasion of widespread weeds
Shaun Coutts, The University of Queensland
Open discussion period follows from 9:45 to 10:00.
...............................................
Symposium: Integrating Conservation Research and Practice: Social Processes for a High-
Impact Research Agenda
Room 303
Monday, July 22, 8:00 to 10:00
Organizer(s): Heather Arnold, Nature Conservancy of Canada; Jensen Reitz Montambault, The Nature Conservancy;
Marie Tremblay, The Nature Conservancy of Canada
As the ceaseless urgency to curb the biodiversity crisis meets a battered economy with yet tighter public funding for research,
there is a growing need to ensure that conservation research is both relevant to practitioners, and solution-oriented. Whereas
practitioners and land managers require research that is applicable to evidence-based and adaptive management, barriers exist
to generating and accessing it, leading to a continued and undue reliance on anecdote and unverified opinion. Meanwhile,
dedicated researchers may be personally motivated to make meaningful contributions toward solving pressing conservation
problems but professional disincentives and funding criteria, often biased against real-world applied research, may discourage
them. While individual efforts in the last two decades have made great strides to bridge the gap between conservation research
and practice, now is the time to break down the systemic barriers that continue to perpetuate the divide. In this symposium a
coalition of academics, funders and practitioners builds on a growing array of success stories and proposes a new way forward,
one in which researchers and practitioners are full partners in the systematic co-creation of the research agenda. The proposed
56