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Political ideology is increasingly shaping public attitudes toward environmental conservation; however, empirical research linking political beliefs and biodiversity conservation remains limited. This narrative review synthesizes 28 peer-reviewed studies identified through a systematic PRISMA-based search to examine how political ideology influences conservation attitudes and behaviors. This work draws on a variety of theories, including values and worldviews, moral foundations, cultural cognition, system justification, and social identity, to synthesize the evidence and develop a conceptual framework that guides future research. Our review suggests that political ideology primarily shapes conservation attitudes through psychological mechanisms related to values, risk perception, trust, and identity. These mechanisms are reinforced by elite cues and ideologically aligned media, creating barriers to consensus even on policies grounded in science. We advocate for greater attention to political ideology in conservation research and call for the use of theoretically grounded conceptual frameworks and multidimensional measures. By recognizing the political dimensions of conservation conflict, practitioners can design more inclusive policies and communication strategies that enhance legitimacy and foster broader public engagement across ideological divides.

Rewilding gained attention as a transformative approach to restoring biodiversity and ecosystem functions in Europe's multifunctional landscapes. Yet, its implementation in socio-ecological systems (SES) raises critical questions about the alignment of ecological goals with social values, cultural contexts, and economic realities. This article discusses enablers and obstacles for rewilding in human-shaped landscapes, drawing on a holistic, transdisciplinary analytical frame that integrates ecological, economic, and social dimensions. Using the Oder Delta as an illustrative case study, we discuss enablers and obstacles that shape rewilding pathways, including ecological factors but also inclusive processes, value pluralism, and institutional coordination. Based on the case-based results, our discussion offers insights on how rewilding could serve as a complementary strategy to established nature conservation. By situating rewilding within the complexity of SES, this article contributes to an emerging discourse on inclusive landscape restoration and the future of biodiversity governance, offering transferable insights for policy and practice.

Global conservation maps often overlook community lands, impacting decision-making and reducing local agency. We focus on the high-profile and regionally important case of Massaha's ancestral territory (Ibola Dja Bana Ba Massaha). In Gabon, the forest is largely gazetted into logging concessions and described as an Eden-like wilderness despite long-term human presence. We compare Massaha's biocultural maps to global, colonial, and post-colonial maps, in a community peer review process. While these maps show Ibola Dja Bana Ba Massaha as devoid of logging and settlement, Massaha's maps show long-term settlement, sacred areas and industrial logging. Massaha used their maps to request the government to protect their forest from logging and update the forestry code to enable community conserved areas, prompting a national debate on the legal recognition of "territories of life", while revitalising ancestral practices. We show that "big data" conservation mapping must account for biocultural knowledge if it is  to be effective in guiding conservation decisions.

Wetlands are critical ecosystems that sustain biodiversity and support human wellbeing, yet limited public awareness of their values constrains conservation and restoration efforts. Drawing on human-nature connection (HNC) theory, this study develops a systematic approach for auditing and strengthening HNC in wetland environments through a new Wetland Wanderer Tool (WWT). The research comprised three stages: a systematic literature review identifying existing tools for assessing nature connection; development of the WWT through iterative expert consultation and field testing; and application of the tool across 21 Tasmanian wetlands as a proof of concept. Field application of the tool produced the first systematic inventory of HNC opportunities in Australian wetlands, revealing consistent shortfalls in orientation and only moderate provision of access. These findings highlight key engagement and infrastructure gaps, while also identifying examples of best practice. The WWT offers a scalable and transferable framework for integrating HNC into wetland planning and conservation.

Sustainable river governance increasingly relies on legal frameworks that integrate ecological indicators with coordinated governance mechanisms. This study examines the Yangtze River Protection Law (YRPL), China's first national legislation for a single river basin, to evaluate how ecological indicators can enhance the law's capacity to achieve measurable ecological outcomes. Drawing on interviews with 40 stakeholders, including legal practitioners, ecologists, policymakers, and community representatives, this study identifies persistent barriers such as ambiguous goals, the absence of ecological indicators, and uneven enforcement across regions. To address these challenges, the study proposes a multi-dimensional framework that centers on ecological indicators, such as biodiversity recovery and flow stability, while recognizing the enabling role of stakeholder engagement and governance adaptability. The proposed indicators, including biodiversity recovery rates, flow stability, and enforcement consistency, build on existing ecological assessment standards to enhance legal accountability and comparability. By integrating ecological science with legal analysis, the study offers a replicable model for assessing river protection laws and contributes to international debates on how law can operationalize ecological resilience.

Assessing sustainability in coastal zones, especially in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like the Dominican Republic, requires a multidimensional approach due to ecological fragility and social complexity. This study evaluates sustainability across 17 coastal provinces, home to 69% of the national population, using five dimensions: ecological, economic, productive, cultural, and social. A total of 148 indicators were selected to reflect key development drivers. Each dimension was independently assessed using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA), followed by an integrated comparison through Discriminant Analysis against theoretical development scenarios. Results show that 75% of provinces face intense pressure on natural resources, while 25% exhibit more diversified and sustainable practices, though planning gaps persist. The approach enables identifying sustainability deficits and development trajectories, providing a replicable, context-sensitive tool for decision-making at multiple levels. Beyond the Dominican Republic, the framework can support coastal regions worldwide in pursuing resilient, inclusive, sustainable development pathways and informing evidence-based planning.

Global conservation efforts are often constrained by limited understanding of the social processes that shape human-wildlife interactions and broader social-ecological systems. We examined local conceptions of human well-being in conservation strategies across eight villages in Cameroon and Kenya, with a focus on how well-being priorities influence capacities for human-wildlife coexistence. Using a grounded qualitative approach, we employed a holistic, locally grounded, and equity-conscious well-being framework that centers diverse local voices and examines how nature contributes to multiple dimensions of living well. Our findings reveal that vulnerable groups, including women and younger men, perceive inequities in access to resources and participation in community decision-making, shaping their well-being priorities and influencing their perceptions toward coexistence with wildlife. The results highlight the importance of strengthening internal social cohesion and integrating equity considerations into conservation program design to support both human-wildlife coexistence and social-ecological resilience.

Across diverse global contexts, Indigenous stewardship practices have transformed forested landscapes into dynamic and productive foodsheds, demonstrating that sustainable forest management is not a modern invention. This research investigates soil development in Gitselasu (Ts'msyen) forest gardens in northwestern British Columbia (BC, Canada), where ancestral interventions have structured diverse forest garden systems that persist today. Through comparative analysis of forest garden soils, ambient conifer forest soils, and evaluating Ts'msyen ethnopedological indices, we assess people's longstanding influence on soil formation and properties. Findings reveal that forest garden soils contain substantially higher levels of organic matter and nitrogen, with a substantially higher cation-exchange capacity and elevated pH. Additionally, we observed increased phosphorus and calcium bioavailability. These results reflect stewardship legacies akin to dark earth (terra preta) development in other global contexts, further highlighting how Indigenous soil knowledge, practices, and governance structures provide insights that fundamentally differ from conventional western agricultural approaches.

This study explores human-moor macaque (Macaca maura) coexistence in Sulawesi, Indonesia, using resilience thinking to assess temporal patterns of coadaptation amidst stressors such as provisioning and road construction. Comparing data from 2016-2017 to 2023-2025, we examine changes in provisioning patterns, macaque roadside use, and people's perceptions of macaques to evaluate factors that may test the system's resilience. Our results show that although provisioning frequency has remained stable, hand-feeding is increasingly common and macaques have increased their use of roadside habitat. Additionally, people's perceptions have shifted from excitement and novelty to fear and normalization. Decreasing tolerance, coupled with increased risks associated with roadside behavior, highlights the system's potential to transition to a state incompatible with coexistence. Our results can be leveraged to promote resilient coexistence, e.g., interventions that enable safer roadside crossing for the macaques and community outreach programs that make use of people's empathy for the macaques' welfare.

Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs), introduced by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), refer to areas outside formal protected-area networks that deliver effective and enduring in situ biodiversity conservation. This scoping review systematically examined global approaches to identifying and evaluating potential OECMs. Analysing 99 studies covering 694 case studies and 237 000 potential sites, we found that potential OECMs are widespread, particularly in Asia and terrestrial environments, with most initiatives led by the environmental sector. Assessments relied largely on qualitative expert knowledge, with limited application of analytical methods. Although CBD criteria were commonly applied, contributions of related to ecosystem services and socio-cultural values were often overlooked. Effectiveness evaluations showed considerable uncertainty, with over one-third of case studies reporting inadequate evidence of conservation outcomes. The review emphasises the need for standardised assessment methodologies, improved decision-support tools, and socio-cultural integration to enhance OECM recognition, particularly under the 30 × 30 conservation biodiversity target.