New IUCN report identifies critical gaps and solutions for mainstreaming behaviour change in conservation

The consultation, which included SSC members alongside CEC members and key informants (from outside the IUCN Network), identified critical obstacles preventing effective behaviour change integration in conservation practice. These include a theory-practice gap where theoretical knowledge fails to translate into practical species conservation strategies, resource constraints with insufficient funding and limited access to behavioural science expertise for species-focused initiatives, institutional resistance to embrace social science approaches within traditional species conservation frameworks, and training deficits.

The findings are particularly relevant for SSC members working on species recovery programs, human-wildlife conflict, and community-based species conservation. Participants emphasised the need for sustainable financial support for species conservation initiatives, strategic collaborations between practitioners and behavioural science communities, practical and accessible implementation tools tailored to species conservation contexts, comprehensive capacity-building opportunities, and centralised information hubs linking behaviour change research to species conservation outcomes.

The SSC CEC Behaviour Change Task Force kindly requests SSC members interested in advancing this critical work at the intersection of human behaviour and species conservation to share this document among their networks and within their institutions, particularly as they develop and implement Species Action Plans and conservation strategies.

You can read and download the full report here.