Forest biodiversity conservation - between classification and emotional engagement

Biodiversity conservation in European forests operates at the intersection of evidence-based guidelines, bureaucratic governance, and practical fieldwork, shaping how non-human life is valued and managed. This study examines the creation and implementation of the Forest Target Species Guidelines (WZAK) and its associated digital Forest Nature Conservation Information System (WNSinfo) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, by drawing from political ecology, science and technology studies, and more-than-human geography. The research highlights how conservation is co-produced through scientific classification, institutionalized bureaucracy, and affective engagements with non-human life. Findings from semi-structured interviews and participant observation illustrate that forest conservation governance is shaped as much by institutional and bureaucratic dynamics as by ecological considerations. A fragmented institutional landscape, characterized by sectoral divisions and legal constraints, generates tensions in data accessibility and conservation implementation. While the WZAK conceptually promotes a conservation approach based on forest structures, in practice, conservation primarily targets the selection of certain species. That allows for easier navigation of political and financial constraints, underscoring the persistent friction between systemic conservation strategies and emotional commitments to individual species protection. The WNSinfo, intended to integrate biodiversity data into decision-making, remains marginalized due to institutional ambiguity and bureaucratic inertia, exemplifying the challenges of digital conservation governance. By critically examining the intersections of classification, bureaucracy, and conservation practice, this study contributes to broader discussions in political ecology, demonstrating how conservation unfolds as a political process of negotiation, experimentation, and human-non-human entanglement. It calls for flexible, adaptive governance frameworks that account for the relational and contested nature of forest conservation in political landscapes.