Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation
Socioeconomic policy and large mature trees are vital for moor macaque (Macaca maura) conservation in anthropogenically-modified landscapes
Published: 2026-09-01
Subjects: Biodiversity, Energy Policy, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation, Population Biology, Zoology
Despite conservation efforts, intensifying anthropogenic pressure is transforming tropical forests into anthropogenically-dominated landscapes. We investigated how current anthropogenic pressure and socioeconomic-climate policies influence tropical forest ecology, using the Endangered moor macaque (Macaca maura) in southwestern Sulawesi, Indonesia, as an example species. Deploying camera traps [...]
Insects as agents of national security: entomological biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse in agriculture and forestry threaten geopolitical stability
Published: 2026-07-02
Subjects: Agriculture, Biodiversity, Biosecurity, Entomology, Forest Management, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
1. In early 2026, the UK Government published a report assessing how global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse represent systematic threats to UK national security through cascading impacts to food security, land use and climate-related feedbacks. 2. Recontextualising biodiversity and ecosystem health as determinants of national security offers a novel perspective on long observed [...]
Reconciling top-down and bottom-up conservation priorities with reinforcement learning from human feedback
Published: 2025-11-21
Subjects: Community-based Research, Environmental Policy, Life Sciences, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation
To meet the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, spatial planning must upscale area-based conservation, while ensuring equitable governance and local community integration. Historically, a deep divide has persisted between data-driven, top-down systematic conservation planning, often performed at large spatial scales, and participatory, bottom-up local initiatives. Here, we propose a [...]
The Q approach to consensus building: integrating diverse perspectives to guide decision-making
Published: 2022-11-11
Subjects: Communication, Environmental Policy, Environmental Studies, Geography, Models and Methods, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation, Political Science, Social and Behavioral Sciences
1. Decision-making processes are complex and time-intensive, particularly when a consensus needs to be achieved amongst more than two parties. Discussions and negotiations must consider all relevant stakeholders and their individual perspectives on the decision to be taken. Methods for identifying, understanding, and acknowledging divergent perspectives can support successful consensus building. [...]
Land use-induced spillover: priority actions for protected and conserved area managers
Published: 2020-11-23
Subjects: Agricultural and Resource Economics, Biodiversity, Communication, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Policy, Environmental Studies, Geography, Health Policy, Immunity, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Immunology of Infectious Disease, International and Area Studies, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Immunology and Infectious Disease, Other Medicine and Health Sciences, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation, Population Biology, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Public Health, Public Policy, Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Veterinary Medicine
Earth systems are under ever greater pressure from human population expansion and intensifying natural resource use. Consequently, novel micro-organisms that cause disease are emerging, dynamics of pathogens in wildlife are altered by land use change bringing wildlife and people in closer contact. We provide a brief overview of the processes governing ‘land use-induced spillover’, emphasising [...]