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 A new multi-institutional project, led by a University of
Illinois researcher and supported by a $550,000 grant from the
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, will trace key
outcomes of $655 million in the foundation’s global conservation
investments made over 40 years.
“We don’t know that much about the long-term effectiveness of
international conservation funding in economically poor but
biodiversity-rich developing countries. By looking at four
decades of MacArthur investment, we have an excellent
opportunity to identify key factors associated with enduring
success over time,” says Daniel Miller, principal investigator
on the project and assistant professor in the Department of
Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at Illinois.
In this context, success isn’t just about saving a particular
species of concern. Instead, the success of a conservation
investment is often measured by its durability. For example, an
initial investment may fund a research center or training
program to continue the work beyond the length of the grant.
Indeed, exploratory research by the project team suggests that
international conservation funding may be most effective when it
strategically invests in capacity-building and sustainable
financing, such as trust funds or forestry certification
schemes. By looking at 40 years of funding history, the team
will be able to tease out even more patterns.
“MacArthur led the way among private foundations in support for
biodiversity. What has their early and, in many cases,
long-standing support for conservation led to? Are graduates of
MacArthur-funded training programs now employed as leaders in
conservation organizations and agencies? And if so, how have
their efforts affected threatened species and conservation on
the ground? Tracing these outcomes is hugely complex,” Miller
says.
The research team, including co-principal
investigator Jana Diesner from the School of Information
Sciences at Illinois, will use methods from data mining, natural
language processing, machine learning, and social network
analysis to examine the capacity-building and sustainable
financing themes from 40 years of project reports.
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They will also carry out in-depth research in Bhutan,
Madagascar, and Peru to learn what worked and what didn’t across
these three diverse country contexts.
“My team is excited to collaborate with this outstanding group of
experts to identify the real-world impacts of funding for conserving
our world’s natural resources and biodiversity,” Diesner says. “We
will contribute our methodological and technical expertise in
human-centered data science and mixed-methods research to this joint
effort.”
Miller plans to present the findings to private foundations and
other donors, as well as scientists contributing to a growing body
of literature around the science of philanthropy. But ultimately,
his goal is to help investors spend money wisely on programs that
actually work over the long term.
“Addressing this knowledge gap is vital given mounting threats to
biodiversity and shifts in the conservation funding landscape.
Foundations and other private actors are increasingly important in
supporting conservation,” he says.
Miller and Diesner will work with Jeremy Brooks from The Ohio State
University, Sonam Wangyel Wang from the Bhutan Institute of
Himalayan Studies, and Aili Phyälä and Johanna Eklund from the
University of Helsinki, as well as an external advisory group.
[Sources: Daniel Miller, Jana Diesner
News writer: Lauren Quinn]
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