Aligning science and policy to achieve evolutionarily enlightened conservation.

Area of Science:

• Conservation Biology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Environmental Policy

Background:

• Conservation scientists recognize the need to integrate evolutionary theory into management for better outcomes.
• There's a gap in understanding how evolutionary principles are incorporated into conservation policy and practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the integration of key evolutionary concepts into conservation policy across international, national, and provincial scales on three continents.
• To evaluate the availability of practical guidance in applied evolutionary biology literature for conservation managers.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of conservation policies at international, national, and provincial levels.
• Review of applied evolutionary biology literature for decision-support tools and practical guidance.

Main Results:

• Conservation policies rarely provide practical guidance on maintaining genetic diversity and seldom mention concepts like inbreeding depression.
• A lack of decision-support tools in the literature contributes to poor integration of evolutionary concepts.
• Available tools, like risk-assessment frameworks, are not adopted by policymakers, indicating barriers beyond evidence availability.

Conclusions:

• There is a significant need for better integration of evolutionary theory into conservation policy and practice.
• Enhanced engagement between evolutionary biologists and policymakers is required to develop practical guidelines.
• Further research is needed to understand barriers and opportunities for applying evolutionary theory in conservation.