Work

Practitioner and landholder perspectives on conservation covenants and extreme weather events

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Conservation covenants are essential for biodiversity conservation and can offer support to landholders facing climate‐induced challenges. To understand how these events impact landholder livelihoods and their participation in conservation covenant programs, we surveyed conservation practitioners and landholders in New South Wales, Australia. Both covenant adopters and non‐adopting landholders reported similar perceptions of their vulnerability to climate change, though adopters were more optimistic about the potential for covenants to improve their financial wellbeing and environmental outcomes. Practitioners perceived landholders' livelihoods as more threatened by events like drought than landholders themselves reported. Practitioners also perceived changes in program engagement after fire and during drought, though opinions varied on whether these events had a positive or negative influence on participation. Understanding how climate events affect covenant participation provides important insights for strengthening landholder resilience and enhancing future program participation.

Source: Conservation Science and Practice

DOI: 10.1111/csp2.70021

Authors: Shirali Davé, Jonathan R. Rhodes, Kelly Fielding, Carla L. Archibald

Institutions: The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, Deakin University

Language: English

Topic: Socioeconomics of Resources and Conservation

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Climate action

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,240