Research shows conservation initiatives often spread like diseases, helping scientists and policymakers design programmes more likely to be taken up.
The study, led by researchers at Imperial College London, modelled how conservation initiatives are adopted across regions and countries until they reach ‘scale’ – at a level where they can have real impact on conserving or improving biodiversity.
By understanding how initiatives have reached scale, the team identified some ways new or existing initiatives could boost their uptake, helping the efforts go further.
The research suggests that one key factor is to facilitate contact between those who have already taken up a new initiative and those who might potentially adopt it. For example, if one community that has established local marine protections talks about what they have done and what the benefits are to another community considering doing something similar.
Read more at Imperial College London
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