Johanna Maribel Soria Soria, Eszter Tormáné Kovács

How does nature conservation citizen science affect policy and decision-making?

Introduction

How does nature conservation citizen science affect policy and decision-making?. A literature review on Nature Conservation Citizen Science (NCCS) impact on policy and decision-making. Discover NCCS contributions, strategies, and challenges in shaping conservation policy.

Abstract

The necessity of expanding our understanding of how Nature Conservation Citizen Science projects contribute to decision-making is frequently emphasized in related scientific studies. A literature review was conducted about the impacts of NCCS projects on policy and decision-making. Peer-reviewed scientific papers published between 2014 and 2024 were used to identify: a) the forms that NCSS projects affected conservation policy, b) the most frequent strategies used in the studies to determine that impact and c) the common challenges encountered for affecting policy. Our results show that more than half of the reviewed publications mention that projects begin with aspirations to make a meaningful contribution to conservation policy, but they rarely share their data with official databases (e.g. official monitoring systems at the local, national, or global levels that implement governmental policy). Our results also show that NCCS projects tend to inform decision-making at early policy stages (e.g. informing policy) and are less common at later phases (e.g. formulation or implementation). Case studies and surveys were most often used to determine the effect. To truly influence national conservation policies, improving channels to communicate with decision-makers is needed and challenges with improving data quality to ensure scientific rigor also need to be addressed.

Review

This literature review addresses a critically important and frequently emphasized gap in the understanding of how Nature Conservation Citizen Science (NCCS) projects genuinely influence policy and decision-making. By systematically reviewing peer-reviewed papers published between 2014 and 2024, the authors set out to identify the forms of impact, common assessment strategies, and persistent challenges in this domain. The abstract clearly articulates the study's relevance and scope, promising valuable insights into the efficacy and potential limitations of NCCS in contributing to tangible conservation outcomes. The methodology, though broadly described, appears sound for a literature synthesis, focusing on key aspects of policy engagement. The findings presented in the abstract reveal several crucial insights. Notably, there's a significant disparity between the aspirations of NCCS projects to contribute meaningfully to conservation policy and their actual practice of sharing data with official databases. This suggests a systemic barrier to the integration of citizen science outputs into formal monitoring and policy frameworks. Furthermore, the observation that NCCS projects tend to inform decision-making predominantly at early policy stages (e.g., awareness and informing) rather than later, more impactful phases (e.g., formulation or implementation), highlights a potential disconnect between intention and operational effectiveness. The identification of case studies and surveys as the most common methods for determining impact also offers a useful meta-perspective on research practices within this field. Ultimately, this review provides a robust diagnosis of the current landscape, identifying critical areas for improvement. The explicit recommendations for enhancing communication channels with decision-makers and addressing data quality concerns to ensure scientific rigor are particularly pertinent. While the abstract does not delve into the specifics of the review's own methodology (e.g., search terms, inclusion/exclusion criteria for the literature review itself), the reported findings suggest a thorough analysis that will undoubtedly serve as a foundational reference for both NCCS practitioners and policymakers. This paper is a timely and valuable contribution, offering clear pathways for citizen science initiatives to maximize their influence on national conservation policies and move beyond aspirational impact to concrete, data-driven contributions.

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