SNAPP: Translating Evidence of Causal Pathways between Nature Conservation and Human Well-being to Management and Policy Guidance

Global policy initiatives and international conservation organizations have sought to emphasize and strengthen the link between the conservation of natural ecosystems and human development. While many indices have been developed to measure various human well-being domains of conservation intervention, the strength of evidence to support the effects, both positive and negative, of conservation interventions on human well-being, is still unclear. Rigorous and comprehensive evidence is necessary to enable efficient, defensible and targeted decisions and investment in advancing goals for improved human well-being in conservation. This working group aims to critically appraise existing evidence documenting the linkages between nature conservation, and identify distribution of existing evidence across existing interventions and outcomes. Furthermore, it will design a decision support tool to help projects assess the consequences, and potential risks, of implementing actions and making investments given condition of existing evidence base. The working group will illustrate, through piloting in case studies with WCS and TNC programs, how these data might be translated into guidance for use by project managers, policy makers and social impact investors.