The role of cost-effectiveness analysis in conservation decision-making

Strategies for biodiversity conservation require society to make choices between competing outcomes. However, these choices are complicated by an incomplete understanding of the ecological significance of different species and the lack of robust measures of conservation outcomes in relation to investments. Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) provides an objective assessment process that can help us to evaluate the effectiveness of different conservation programmes and adjust them in an adaptive manner to improve the chances of success. CEA and other objectively-constructed methods should form an important part of the evidence base for conservation decision-making and evaluation.