A unifying theoretical framework for conservation flagships

Conservation flagships are an effective approach to mobilize support for conservation. The flagship concept has recently been expanded beyond species, to include also fleets, protected areas, ecosystems, individuals, and events. Here, we present a unifying framework of flagship categories and their use, provide a roadmap for flagship selection, and give recommendations for their use in conservation practice. We also propose the flexible encompassing term ‘flagship entity’, broadly defined as a unique and recognizable entity that can be easily communicated for conservation purposes. Flagship entities are characterized by their biological and ecological organization level, temporal state, geographical reach, current level of use, and effectiveness. Flagship selection should be driven by sound knowledge and a clear understanding of the target audience’s conscious and subconscious preferences and its intended use. Further work is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of various flagship categories and concepts, and the positive and negative economic outcomes of flagship strategies. • The concept of conservation flagships has recently been expanded beyond species. • Flagships now also include fleets, protected areas, ecosystems, individuals, and events. • The presented flagship entity concept unifies existing flagship categories. • Flagships should be selected by the intended use and audience’s preferences. • Effectiveness of flagship entities should be carefully evaluated.

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Publication Details

Journal
Biological Conservation
Published
2025-05-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111199
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Animal and Plant Science Education
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
14.63

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article

A unifying theoretical framework for conservation flagships

Richard J. Ladle, Jonathan M. Jeschke, Gabriel Henrique de Oliveira Caetano, Uri Roll et al.
6 citations
Biological Conservation
Animal and Plant Science Education
14.63
article

A unifying theoretical framework for conservation flagships

Richard J. Ladle, Jonathan M. Jeschke, Gabriel Henrique de Oliveira Caetano, Uri Roll, Ivan Jarić, Sarah L. Crowley, Ugo Arbieu, Stefano Mammola, Diogo Veríssimo, Arjun Kamdar, Ricardo A. Correia
article en
6 citations

Abstract

Conservation flagships are an effective approach to mobilize support for conservation. The flagship concept has recently been expanded beyond species, to include also fleets, protected areas, ecosystems, individuals, and events. Here, we present a unifying framework of flagship categories and their use, provide a roadmap for flagship selection, and give recommendations for their use in conservation practice. We also propose the flexible encompassing term ‘flagship entity’, broadly defined as a unique and recognizable entity that can be easily communicated for conservation purposes. Flagship entities are characterized by their biological and ecological organization level, temporal state, geographical reach, current level of use, and effectiveness. Flagship selection should be driven by sound knowledge and a clear understanding of the target audience’s conscious and subconscious preferences and its intended use. Further work is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of various flagship categories and concepts, and the positive and negative economic outcomes of flagship strategies. • The concept of conservation flagships has recently been expanded beyond species. • Flagships now also include fleets, protected areas, ecosystems, individuals, and events. • The presented flagship entity concept unifies existing flagship categories. • Flagships should be selected by the intended use and audience’s preferences. • Effectiveness of flagship entities should be carefully evaluated.

Biological ConservationVol. 308
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (IL), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Helsinki (FI), University of Turku (FI), Czech Academy of Sciences (CZ), AgroParisTech (FR), University of Exeter (GB), University of Cambridge (GB), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), University of Oxford (GB), Ecologie, Société, Evolution (FR), Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (DE), Berlin Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (DE), Water Research Institute (IT), Finnish Museum of Natural History (FI), Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ), National Research Council (IT), Freie Universität Berlin (DE), Universidade Federal de Alagoas (BR)
Media-alan tutkimussäätiö, Grantová Agentura České Republiky, Koneen Säätiö
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Animal and Plant Science Education
14.63
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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