Information Into Action: Biodiversity Data Outreach and Municipal Land Conservation

Abstract

Problem: Technical specialists in environmental planning rely on science to suggest effective conservation strategies. The assumption that rational technical information will be readily turned into action, however, is often not accomplished in practice. Purpose: In this article, we present a study of Maine's Beginning with Habitat (BwH) program, a statewide collaborative multiagency effort that distributes customized ecological information directly to local governments who must develop state-mandated comprehensive plans. The goal is to spur the implementation of land use policies that more effectively protect biodiversity. We first review the changing conception of how technical information from experts comes to influence decisions on science-intensive green planning issues. We then test that recent thinking with an empirical study examining what conditions have encouraged local governments to use the BwH ecological information to enact new land conservation tools. Methods: We collected data on the local government planning and implementation response to the BwH program in a 2004 survey of all participating Maine towns and cities. Results and conclusions: The investigation supports conceptual arguments by Innes and others that getting stakeholders to use planning and environmental management information is critical to overcoming the limitations of the conventional rational planning model. The likelihood that a community will act on the new science-based information depends on its wealth and urbanization pressures, but even more significantly on the extent to which different interests are engaged in using the information. We were surprised to find less implementation when local planning staff led the use of the technical information, absent wider public engagement. Takeaway for practice: When addressing local ecological land use planning issues effectively depends on using technical information, scientists, specialists, and advocates should encourage stakeholder access to such information and support them in using it to make decisions. Research on the planning process itself should aim to provide technical specialists evidence-based models of effective public engagement processes that make information usable. Research support: This work was partially supported by the Maine Coastal Program in the Maine State Planning Office, Executive Department.