The use of systematic reviews and maps as decision-making tools has been increasing in popularity as a means to bridge the science-policy gap. Systematic reviews and maps are formal approaches that revolutionized the field of medicine but have only recently started gain ground in environmental management. They bridge the gap between researchers and managers by presenting a comprehensive overview of all studies relating to a topic and identifying the effectiveness of specific interventions, or alternatively, the knowledge gaps we have to fill in order to get this information. With this in mind, we recently hosted, for the first time, an international workshop in which leading behavioral ecologists from eight different countries have learned the principles of how to conduct systematic reviews and maps.
The workshop was led by Biljana Macura from the Council for Evidence-Based Environmental Management. Its aim was to create a group effort that will push the scientific discipline of conservation behaviour towards higher involvement in the conservation and management of species and habitats. In the workshop we gained tools and approaches that will help us conduct systematic reviews and systematic maps. Furthermore, all workshop participants have committed to produce a systematic review or map regarding an essential wildlife management topic of conservation concern in the near future. Therefore we also spent the second part of the workshop beginning the first stages of our particular projects. In the intense schedule we also managed to taste a bit of the scenery of the beautiful Negev Desert, and its cuisine…
Such an unprecedented group effort is bound to have a long-lasting impact on the use of animal behavior knowledge in wildlife management, and will hopefully inspire other behavioral ecologists worldwide to devote some of their time to translate their knowledge into conservation action. Stay tuned as the initial outputs of the workshop will start to materialize!
