Leveraging the Social Sciences to Strengthen Outcomes for People and Nature

It is impossible to speak about the conservation of natural resources without considering the role people play in resource use, management, protection, and, in some cases, degradation. The conservation of nature, therefore, requires an understanding of this central role of people, a social process. The social sciences are critical to understanding these varied and complex systems and how conservation organizations can best work within them.

Yet most conservation practitioners do not have a complete understanding of, nor receive adequate training, how social science theory, methods, and tools can be used.

The Conservation Social Science Partnership (ConSoSci) is a growing community of the world's leading conservation NGOs, social science practitioners, and researchers who recognize that the social sciences are as essential as the ecological sciences to making informed decisions on the best conservation actions that benefit both nature and people. We seek to address critical gaps in social science capacity, implementation, and accessibility in conservation.