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The Impact of Scientific Information on Ecosystem Management: Making Sense of the Contextual Gap Between Information Providers and Decision Makers

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Abstract

Scientific information is not always effectively incorporated into decision-making processes. This phenomenon seems to hold even when the information is aligned with an articulated need, is generated according to sound scientific procedures, and is packaged with end-user preferences in mind. We propose that contextual or cultural differences contribute significantly to the misalignment in communication between those who generate information and those who seek information for improved management of natural resources. The solution is to cultivate shared understanding, which in turn relies on acknowledgment and sharing of diverse values and attitudes. This constitutes a difficult challenge in a culturally diverse environment. Whereas cultural diversity represents wealth in experiences, knowledge and perspectives it can constrain the potential to develop the shared understandings necessary for effective integration of new information. This article illustrates how a lack of shared understanding among participants engaged in a resource-management process can produce and perpetuate divergent views of the world, to the extent that information and knowledge flows are ineffective and scientific information, even when requested, cannot be used effectively. Four themes were distilled from interviews with management and scientific staff of a natural resource–management agency in South Africa. The themes are used to illustrate how divergent views embedded in different cultures can discourage alignment of effort toward a common purpose. The article then presents a sense-making framework to illustrate the potential for developing shared understandings in a culturally diverse world.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all of our colleagues who contributed to the development of these ideas. Early discussions with Prof. C. Breen and Dr. N. Nyambe from the University of KwaZulu-Natal provided the stimulus for eliciting and interpreting findings from a cultural perspective. We also gratefully acknowledge staff of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry who willingly and enthusiastically gave of their time to participate in this study. A Parliamentary Grant from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research provided financial support to initiate the study and to conduct interviews and preliminary analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resources and the Environment, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, 0001, Pretoria, South Africa

    Ernita van Wyk, Dirk J. Roux & Mikael Drackner

  2. Department of Society and Conservation, College of Forestry and Conservation, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812-0576, USA

    Stephen F. McCool

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  1. Ernita van Wyk
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  2. Dirk J. Roux
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Correspondence to Ernita van Wyk.

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van Wyk, E., Roux, D.J., Drackner, M. et al. The Impact of Scientific Information on Ecosystem Management: Making Sense of the Contextual Gap Between Information Providers and Decision Makers . Environmental Management 41, 779–791 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9084-8

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