Ethical considerations when conservation research involves people

• Published in: Conservation biology 2020-08, Vol.34 (4), p.925-933
• Main Authors: Brittain, Stephanie, Ibbett, Harriet, Lange, Emiel, Dorward, Leejiah, Hoyte, Simon, Marino, Agnese, Milner‐Gulland, E. J., Newth, Julia, Rakotonarivo, Sarobidy, Veríssimo, Diogo, Lewis, Jerome
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Careers; ciencias sociales; comités institucionales de revisión; Conflicts; Conservation; dinámicas de poder; Ethical standards; Ethics; fieldwork; Guidelines; institutional review boards; legacy; legado; power dynamics; reflexividad; reflexivity; Researchers; social science; Social sciences; trabajo de campo; Training; valores; values; 价值观; 反身性; 机构审查委员会; 权力动力学; 田野调查; 社会科学; 遗留问题
• ISSN: 0888-8892; 1523-1739
• DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13464

Social science is becoming increasingly important in conservation, with more studies involving methodologies that collect data from and about people. Conservation science is a normative and applied discipline designed to support and inform management and practice. Poor research practice risks harming participants and, researchers, and can leave negative legacies. Often, those at the forefront of field‐based research are early‐career researchers, many of whom enter their first research experience ill‐prepared for the ethical conundrums they may face. We draw on our own experiences as early‐career researchers to illuminate how ethical challenges arise during conservation research that involves human participants. Specifically, we considered ethical review procedures, conflicts of values, and power relations, and devised broad recommendations on how to navigate ethical challenges when they arise during research. In particular, we recommend researchers apply reflexivity (i.e., thinking that allows researchers to recognize the effect researchers have on the research) to help navigate ethical challenges and encourage greater engagement with ethical review processes and the development of ethical guidelines for conservation research that involves human participants. Such guidelines must be accompanied by the integration of rigorous ethical training into conservation education. We believe our experiences are not uncommon and can be avoided and hope to spark discussion to contribute to a more socially just conservation. Consideraciones Éticas cuando la Investigación para la Conservación Involucra a la Gente Resumen Las ciencias sociales cada vez son más importantes para la conservación pues más estudios involucran metodologías que recolectan datos de y sobre la gente. La ciencia de la conservación es una disciplina normativa y aplicada diseñada para apoyar e informar al manejo y a la práctica. La investigación deficiente corre el riesgo de dañar a los participantes y a los investigadores, además de que puede dejar un legado negativo. Es común que investigadores que recién inician sus carreras estén al frente de investigación basada en el campo, muchos de los cuales comenzaron su experiencia mal preparados para los dilemas éticos que podrían enfrentar. Partimos de nuestras propias experiencias como investigadores de carrera temprana para ilustrar cómo emergen los retos éticos durante la investigación para la conservación que incluye a participantes humanos. Específi