Changing Human Behavior to Conserve Biodiversity

Abstract

Conservation of biodiversity is above all else an exercise in human persuasion. Human behavior drives all substantive threats to biodiversity; therefore, influencing it is the only path to mitigating the current extinction crisis. We review the literature across three different axes to highlight current evidence on influencing human behavior for conservation. First, we look at behavioral interventions to mitigate different threats, from pollution and climate change to invasive species and human disturbance. Next, we examine interventions focused on different stakeholders, from voters, investors, and environmental managers to consumers, producers, and extractors. Finally, we review delivery channels, ranging from mass and social media to interventions involving changes to the physical environment or carried out in person. We highlight key gaps, including the lack of scale and robust impact evaluation of most interventions, and the need to prioritize behaviors, overcome the reproducibility crisis, and deal with inequality when designing and implementing behavior change interventions.