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Biodiversity conservation: Applying new criteria to assess excellence

Black, Simon A., Meredith, Helen M.R., Groombridge, Jim J. (2011) Biodiversity conservation: Applying new criteria to assess excellence. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 22 (11). pp. 1165-1178. ISSN 1478-3363. (doi:10.1080/14783363.2011.624766) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:48326)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2011.624766

Abstract

Biodiversity conservation is a discipline that has developed from amateur pursuits by wildlife enthusiasts in the 1960s to today's complex community of multi-national NGOs, government agencies and research institutions. The conservation sector is largely funded by government grants, private donations and sponsorship, and unsurprisingly faces increasing scrutiny in the current economic downturn. Furthermore, the observed failure to halt the decline of biodiversity provides additional pressure to organisations. In this context, business excellence models which have been utilised across many other sectors for evaluation, benchmarking and improvement planning could prove valuable in influencing the effectiveness of conservation management. This paper presents a sector-specific Conservation Excellence Model which describes how conservation managers can better understand how scientific processes and results can be aligned with financial and organisational measures of success. The relevance of the model is illustrated through evaluation of two well-documented species conservation programmes, and experience of adapting the assessment process to evaluate a field-based conservation programme is also presented. The potential benefits of using the Conservation Excellence Model include improved objective setting, more effective measures of biological success and clearer evaluation of conservation processes. The paper illustrates how assessment models can support improvement in organisations still unfamiliar with concepts of excellence.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1080/14783363.2011.624766
Uncontrolled keywords: conservation effectiveness, management, EFQM, evaluation, improvement, planning, benchmarking
Subjects: Q Science > QH Natural history > QH75 Conservation (Biology)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology)
Depositing User: Jim Groombridge
Date Deposited: 08 May 2015 14:38 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:19 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/48326 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Black, Simon A..

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CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Groombridge, Jim J..

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6941-8187
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