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Feedbacks are an essential feature of resilient socio-economic systems, yet the feedbacks between biodiversity, ecosystem services and human wellbeing are not fully accounted for in global policy efforts that consider future scenarios for human activities and their consequences for nature. Failure to integrate feedbacks in our knowledge frameworks exacerbates uncertainty in future projections and potentially prevents us from realizing the full benefits of actions we can take to enhance sustainability. We identify six scientific research challenges that, if addressed, could allow future policy, conservation and monitoring efforts to quantitatively account for ecosystem and societal consequences of biodiversity change. Placing feedbacks prominently in our frameworks would lead to (i) coordinated observation of biodiversity change, ecosystem functions and human actions, (ii) joint experiment and observation programmes, (iii) more effective use of emerging technologies in biodiversity science and policy, and (iv) a more inclusive and integrated global community of biodiversity observers. To meet these challenges, we outline a five-point action plan for collaboration and connection among scientists and policymakers that emphasizes diversity, inclusion and open access. Efforts to protect biodiversity require the best possible scientific understanding of human activities, biodiversity trends, ecosystem functions and—critically—the feedbacks among them.
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This content will become publicly available on August 18, 2026
Sensibilisation: The role of awareness raising in biodiversity conservation in Kanaky/New Caledonia
Sensibilisation is a French term often translated to awareness raising but which encompasses a broader set of practices and philosophies intended to foster behavior change among target audiences. For those working on biodiversity conservation, sensibilisation is central to their work yet its meanings and methods vary. In this article, I draw on ethnographic fieldwork in Kanaky/New Caledonia to examine discourses of sensibilisation among conservationists using a political ecology framework. I use the concept of conservation morality to demonstrate how the moral imperative of conservation drives conservationists to use sensibilisation to enroll others into adopting specific attitudes and behavior. Two models of sensibilisation emerged: a Francophone and a Kanak model. The Francophone model centered scientific knowledge and was motivated by biodiversity protection, whereas the Kanak model was rooted in hands-on learning and motivated by perpetuating cultural and familial heritage. Both models seek to shape the territory's ecological future, but their power to capacitate change is predicated on asymmetrical knowledge and resource flows. I argue that the drive, and different motivations, for sensibilisation are reflective of broader tensions over the fate of the territory's political future as Independent from or a territory of France.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2147716
- PAR ID:
- 10629045
- Publisher / Repository:
- Journal of Political Ecology
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Political Ecology
- Volume:
- 32
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1073-0451
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1-16
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- biodiversity conservation collaborative conservation future Indigenous sovereignty South Pacific
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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