https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220427115740.htm

This study, published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice, was co-authored by researchers at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Forestry, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The findings reveal that some best practices from M&E in conservation, such as closely tying monitoring plans to a theory of change, are underutilized. While the majority of projects reported social outcomes (co-benefits to human communities) in addition to ecological outcomes at their project completion, their monitoring plans focused primarily on ecological and biophysical changes. Only 15 percent of projects planned to collect data related to social outcomes, such as changes in perceptions or behaviors, and human well-being linked to restoration activities.