A new study co-authored by Diogo Veríssimo from the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI) is challenging the conservation sector to rethink how it measures success.
Published by a team of 12 researchers and practitioners working across four continents, the paper argues that qualitative methods — such as interviews, storytelling, and participatory workshops — should be given equal weight alongside the data-heavy quantitative approaches that dominate impact evaluation in conservation.
Dr Veríssimo, who leads the Biodiversity & Behavioural Science Team (BBEST) at the ECI, said:
Conservation is about people as much as it is about animals or plants. If we want to understand change, we need to understand that narratives and stories can be just as valuable as data as numbers and statistics.”
Impact evaluation is a cornerstone of conservation science, determining whether interventions — from protecting endangered species to reducing illegal wildlife trade — actually achieve their intended outcomes. Traditionally, researchers have relied on quantitative, counterfactual-based methods that compare results against what would have happened without the intervention. But the team of researchers point out that these methods often require large datasets and control sites, which are difficult to obtain in fast-changing, complex social and ecological landscapes.
The authors draw on case studies from around the world to show how qualitative approaches can fill these gaps. Examples include:
- Challenging Assumptions: In Japan, a qualitative evaluation of anti-ivory campaigns revealed that reducing demand was less about celebrity influence and more about respect for government authority and changing retail trends.
- Amplifying Local Voices: In northern Kenya, community-led interviews uncovered how attitudes toward lions were shaped by the actions of different conservation organisations, providing insights that statistics alone would have missed.
- Flexibility in Data-Poor Settings: In Bonaire, interviews with residents and conservation workers helped identify the real drivers of parrot population recovery, despite a lack of baseline data.
The paper urges donors, policymakers, and academics to “mainstream” qualitative approaches, using them both independently and in combination with quantitative methods. It also calls for more training in social science skills among conservation professionals to ensure these tools are applied rigorously.
The authors argue that qualitative evaluation not only helps explain how and why change happens, but also captures the cultural, political, and historical contexts that numbers can’t easily quantify. This, they say, is critical for avoiding one-size-fits-all solutions and for ensuring conservation efforts are meaningful to the people most affected.
The research is the product of the Interdisciplinary Conservation Network, an Oxford initiative that brings early-career conservationists together to tackle pressing challenges. Participants represented a mix of academic researchers and practitioners from NGOs and the private sector, working in countries from Indonesia to Colombia.
By reframing impact evaluation to embrace multiple ways of knowing, the authors hope to improve not just the measurement of conservation success, but also its delivery on the ground.
Read the study in full in Conservation Science and Practice, a journal of the Society for Conservation Biology: The value of qualitative approaches to impact evaluation in biodiversity conservation
This work builds on earlier efforts led by Dr Veríssimo to put human behaviour at the centre of conservation strategies. The current study advances this approach by providing practical frameworks for assessing conservation outcomes through a behavioural lens, reinforcing the importance of human dimensions in achieving lasting environmental impact.
In April, the ECI highlighted a pioneering project focused on integrating behavioural science into biodiversity conservation across Europe. Watch the recently published WildCRU video exploring these themes, further emphasising the vital role of behaviour changes in conservation efforts.