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Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Spatial Multiobjective Optimization of Agricultural Conservation Practices using a SWAT Model and an Evolutionary Algorithm
Published on: December 9, 2012
Is conservation triage just smart decision making?
Madeleine C Bottrill1, Liana N Joseph, Josie Carwardine
1The University of Queensland, The Applied Environmental Decision Analysis Centre, The Ecology Centre, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia. m.bottrill@uq.edu.au
Abstract:
Conservation efforts and emergency medicine face comparable problems: how to use scarce resources wisely to conserve valuable assets. In both fields, the process of prioritising actions is known as triage. Although often used implicitly by conservation managers, scientists and policymakers, triage has been misinterpreted as the process of simply deciding which assets (e.g. species, habitats) will not receive investment. As a consequence, triage is sometimes associated with a defeatist conservation ethic. However, triage is no more than the efficient allocation of conservation resources and we risk wasting scarce resources if we do not follow its basic principles.
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