Archives des Aires protégées - Fondation pour la recherche sur la biodiversité

Beyond economic factors: The role of social behaviour in the establishment of protected areas

Collective behaviour as an explanatory factor

The researchers analysed data from 71 countries by combining international surveys on human behaviour with geographic data on protected areas.

Four behavioural dimensions from the Global Preferences Survey were examined: trust in others, altruism, patience, and willingness to take risks.

Only one of these traits showed a significant association: countries where individuals reported higher levels of trust in others tended, on average, to have a lower proportion of protected areas.

Figure. Negative relationship between trust in others and the percentage of protected areas. Each dot is a country.

One hypothesis put forward by the authors is that, in societies where interpersonal trust is high, the preservation of natural resources may rely more heavily on informal forms of cooperation, reducing the need for regulatory mechanisms such as protected areas. Conversely, in societies where distrust is more prevalent, biodiversity conservation may more often depend on formal institutional mechanisms.

However, the study focuses on the surface area of protected areas designated according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), rather than on their actual conservation effectiveness. As such, it does not determine whether these areas genuinely achieve their biodiversity conservation objectives—a key issue in scientific debates, particularly given the existence of so-called paper parks (protected areas whose protection remains largely theoretical).

A new dimension to consider in conservation policies

These findings suggest that collective behaviour is one of many factors that may influence national conservation strategies. It complements other factors already identified—such as history, institutions, political priorities, and economic resources—that help explain differences in the proportion of protected areas across countries.

These results should not be interpreted as an argument for reducing the extent of protected areas in societies where trust is high. Rather, they reveal an association at the international level without establishing a causal relationship, and suggest that the behavioural characteristics of populations represent an additional dimension for understanding differences between countries.

The primary objective is to improve our understanding of how social factors may influence conservation choices. The study therefore encourages the development of conservation approaches that are better adapted to local social and cultural contexts, rather than assuming that a single model can be applied with equal effectiveness across all countries.

Further reading – Learn more about the Spatman project

SpatmanRead more

Nature conservation: greater inclusivity for greater effectiveness

Posted on 11 March 202613 March 2026 by Violette Silve

[FRB-CESAB] Blue and Green Justice

Traditional conservation approaches have typically focused solely on ecological aspects. However, a growing body of research shows that the success of conservation policies depends as much on governance, power dynamics, and underlying principles of justice as on the biological mechanisms they aim to protect. Despite this, the interactions between these dimensions remain poorly understood and are often studied in isolation.

Drawing on the findings of four FRB-CESAB research projects, this conference explores the emerging concept of Blue and Green Justice in biodiversity conservation. Each project used distinct methodological and disciplinary approaches, yet all shared a common goal: to examine how stakeholder engagement in conservation processes can strengthen the protection and resilience of terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

The conference will take place on December 15 at 2:00 PM (Paris time) and will be conducted in English. Attendees are invited to join in person in Paris. Attendance is free, but registration via the form below is required.

Learn more about the projects

The program will begin with the PARSEC project, which combined satellite imagery, socio-economic data, and artificial intelligence to quantify the global impacts of protected areas, particularly on poverty. In parallel, PARSEC collaborated with the MPA-Poverty project — funded by the ANR and led by CEE-M — which resulted in a case study focused on fisheries in Tanzania.

ParsecRead more

The discussion will continue with the BLUE JUSTICE project, which explored the global connections between equity, marine policies, and the resilience of coastal communities, especially under the combined pressures of climate change, conservation, and development.

Blue JusticeRead more

Complementing this, the JUSTCONSERVATION project synthesizes 50 years of empirical literature (662 case studies), providing robust statistical evidence that governance led by Indigenous peoples and local communities significantly improves ecological and social outcomes.

JustConservationRead more

Finally, the POWERBIODIV project examines a dimension long theorized but rarely operationalized: power. Using a multidimensional framework combining systematic reviews, network analyses, and modeling, the project investigates how visible, hidden, and systemic forms of power influence participatory processes and their outcomes.

PowerBiodivRead more

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AFROBIODRIVERS | African biodiversity dynamics: interactions between ecological processes and conservation actions

While Africa has been home to exceptional biodiversity so far, the proven decline of its large, iconic mammals represents a significant ecological and economic threat to most countries of the continent. When in 2010, the world’s governments committed to increasing the coverage of protected areas to 17% of the world’s land surface, several Central African countries had already established the protection of 25% of their savannas for conservation purposes.

To assess the effectiveness of these tools, researchers from the AFROBIODRIVERS project :

combined data on African large mammal populations and on the causes of changes (natural, anthropogenic), in order to improve the availability and use of multidisciplinary data,
improved methods for analyzing spatial and temporal trends of populations and identified the main drivers of change, both ecological and anthropogenic, by analyzing and modeling long-term trends,
analyzed results from the seven main savanna national parks in Central Africa, as well as information on potential pressures impacting the large herbivore population (rainfall, number of rangers) and on the number and income of tourists.

This document summarizes in a few pages the group’s context and objectives, the methods and approaches used, the main findings, as well as the impact for science, society, and both public and private decision-making.

JUSTCONSERVATION | Towards ‘just conservation’: linking theories and practices of justice in biodiversity conservation

Over the past three decades, biodiversity conservation has expanded, from a focus on nature preservation alone, to more ‘people-friendly’ approaches integrating objectives for both conservation and human well-being, as visible in the governance of protected areas and other conservation measures worldwide. However, integrated approaches have not necessarily led to benefits to local people, giving rise to a further shift from a focus on economic development, to one on social justice. This FRB-CESAB research project called JUSTCONSERVATION analyzed how justice concerns find support and integration in biodiversity conservation; a research need which is currently under-addressed. It asks:

how different conceptualizations of justice and equity influence the governance of protected areas and other effective conservation measures?
to what extent and through what mechanisms the integration of social objectives in conservation governance influence conservation effectiveness?

RAATD | Retrospective analysis of vertebrates’ tracking data in Antarctica to identify ecologically significant areas

The overall objective of the project FRB-CESAB RAATD project was to assess habitat use by several predator species at the top of Southern Ocean food chains from existing spatial monitoring data sets of these animals. This approach identify ecologically important areas for predators, i.e. ocean regions that serve as preferred sites for food exploration for several predator species simultaneously, and therefore that have high biodiversity.

[FRB-CESAB] Challenges and opportunities in large-scale conservation

The working group Pelagic from the Centre for the Synthesis and Analysis of Biodiversity (CESAB) will hold a symposium in Montpellier on Friday the 29th of November 2019. During this symposium a group of international researchers will present the new challenges associated with monitoring both wildlife and human activities in protected areas using up to date technologies.

Organizing Committee:

David MOUILLOT (University of Montpellier, FR)
Tom LETESSIER (Zoological Society of London, UK)

Speakers:

Jessica MEEUWIG (University of Western Australia, AU)
Tom LETESSIER (Zoological Society of London, UK)
Marc CHAUMONT (University of Nîmes, LIRMM, FR)
Ana NUNO (University of Exeter, UK)
Rachel JONES (Zoological Society of London, UK)

PELAGIC | Prioritizing ecologically significant and globally important marine conservation areas for vertebrates

Declines in marine predators intensified globally in the 1950’s, as industrial fleets targeted previously inaccessible populations of sharks, tunas, and billfishes. These spatially extensive fisheries continue to expand, while global catches continue to decline. Given the difficulty of managing these fisheries sustainably, large no-take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been proposed for halting and reversing these declines. These MPAs require knowledge of the critical habitats that maintain these predators and that are relatively immune from the effects of human disturbances. This crucial knowledge is currently severely limited since based primarily on species geographic distributions obtained through fishery catches that remain biased with untargeted species, unfished areas and deliberate underreporting.

Here, the FRB-CESAB PELAGIC project overcame this limitation by collecting the most up-to-date and complete information on the biogeography and habitat use of marine mammals, sharks and fishes.

Thématique: Aires protégées