Open Forum

Dear colleagues,

I have been thinking a lot about durability in conservation.

Many conservation projects can look successful for a while. A species may receive more attention, a community may participate, a policy may be approved, or a local project may work well under normal conditions. But I think one of the harder questions is what remains when conditions change.

What makes conservation continue when funding becomes uncertain, institutions become weaker, people face new pressures, or the original project team is no longer there?

If conservation remains only a project, it may disappear when the project ends.

For me, this is not only an ecological or institutional question. It is also a psychological and social one.

Conservation psychology can help us ask whether conservation has become connected to people's identity, values, habits, emotional attachment, sense of responsibility, and relationship with place. In other words, is conservation only something people support when there is an external incentive, or has it become part of how they see themselves and their community?

This is one area where I feel psychology can contribute more deeply to conservation. Not only by measuring attitudes or awareness, but by helping us understand what kind of relationship people have with conservation, how stable that relationship is, and how we might design better interventions to strengthen it.

I would be very interested to hear from others working on conservation psychology, human dimensions, community conservation, social norms, or long-term conservation outcomes:

How do you think we can understand and measure whether conservation has become durable in people and communities?

For colleagues who are also members of SSWG, I am currently a candidate for the SSWG board. The official candidate statements and voting link are available here.

Best,
Iman Ebrahimi

------------------------------
Iman Ebrahimi
Isfahan
------------------------------

Dear colleagues,

I have been thinking a lot about durability in conservation.

Many conservation projects can look successful for a while. A species may receive more attention, a community may participate, a policy may be approved, or a local project may work well under normal conditions. But I think one of the harder questions is what remains when conditions change.

What makes conservation continue when funding becomes uncertain, institutions become weaker, people face new pressures, or the original project team is no longer there?

If conservation remains only a project, it may disappear when the project ends.

For me, this is not only an ecological or institutional question. It is also a psychological and social one.

Conservation psychology can help us ask whether conservation has become connected to people's identity, values, habits, emotional attachment, sense of responsibility, and relationship with place. In other words, is conservation only something people support when there is an external incentive, or has it become part of how they see themselves and their community?

This is one area where I feel psychology can contribute more deeply to conservation. Not only by measuring attitudes or awareness, but by helping us understand what kind of relationship people have with conservation, how stable that relationship is, and how we might design better interventions to strengthen it.

I would be very interested to hear from others working on conservation psychology, human dimensions, community conservation, social norms, or long-term conservation outcomes:

How do you think we can understand and measure whether conservation has become durable in people and communities?

For colleagues who are also members of SSWG, I am currently a candidate for the SSWG board. The official candidate statements and voting link are available here.

Best,
Iman Ebrahimi

Dear colleagues,

I have been thinking a lot about durability in conservation.

Many conservation projects can look successful for a while. A species may receive more attention, a community may participate, a policy may be approved, or a local project may work well under normal conditions. But I think one of the harder questions is what remains when conditions change.

What makes conservation continue when funding becomes uncertain, institutions become weaker, people face new pressures, or the original project team is no longer there?

If conservation remains only a project, it may disappear when the project ends.

For me, this is not only an ecological or institutional question. It is also a psychological and social one.

Conservation psychology can help us ask whether conservation has become connected to people's identity, values, habits, emotional attachment, sense of responsibility, and relationship with place. In other words, is conservation only something people support when there is an external incentive, or has it become part of how they see themselves and their community?

This is one area where I feel psychology can contribute more deeply to conservation. Not only by measuring attitudes or awareness, but by helping us understand what kind of relationship people have with conservation, how stable that relationship is, and how we might design better interventions to strengthen it.

I would be very interested to hear from others working on conservation psychology, human dimensions, community conservation, social norms, or long-term conservation outcomes:

How do you think we can understand and measure whether conservation has become durable in people and communities?

For colleagues who are also members of SSWG, I am currently a candidate for the SSWG board. The official candidate statements and voting link are available here.

Best,
Iman Ebrahimi

Dear colleagues,

I have been thinking a lot about durability in conservation.

Many conservation projects can look successful for a while. A species may receive more attention, a community may participate, a policy may be approved, or a local project may work well under normal conditions. But I think one of the harder questions is what remains when conditions change.

What makes conservation continue when funding becomes uncertain, institutions become weaker, people face new pressures, or the original project team is no longer there?

If conservation remains only a project, it may disappear when the project ends.

For me, this is not only an ecological or institutional question. It is also a psychological and social one.

Conservation psychology can help us ask whether conservation has become connected to people's identity, values, habits, emotional attachment, sense of responsibility, and relationship with place. In other words, is conservation only something people support when there is an external incentive, or has it become part of how they see themselves and their community?

This is one area where I feel psychology can contribute more deeply to conservation. Not only by measuring attitudes or awareness, but by helping us understand what kind of relationship people have with conservation, how stable that relationship is, and how we might design better interventions to strengthen it.

I would be very interested to hear from others working on conservation psychology, human dimensions, community conservation, social norms, or long-term conservation outcomes:

How do you think we can understand and measure whether conservation has become durable in people and communities?

For colleagues who are also members of SSWG, I am currently a candidate for the SSWG board. The official candidate statements and voting link are available here.

Best,
Iman Ebrahimi

------------------------------
Iman Ebrahimi
Isfahan
------------------------------

A conservation system that only functions under stable funding, favorable politics, or exceptional leadership may not actually be resilient - just temporarily successful. Durability requires ecological, institutional, economic, and psychological endurance all at once.

I explored some of these ideas recently in a piece for The Revelator, drawing from my work in ocean conservation, though I think many of the lessons apply broadly across conservation fields. The essay looks at institutional memory, continuity, and what conservation systems carry forward through change and disruption:

https://therevelator.org/reflections-what-endures-conservation/

------------------------------
Rick MacPherson
Oakland CA

Original Message:
Sent: 05-17-2026 03:59
From: Iman Ebrahimi
Subject: What makes conservation durable?

Dear colleagues,

I have been thinking a lot about durability in conservation.

Many conservation projects can look successful for a while. A species may receive more attention, a community may participate, a policy may be approved, or a local project may work well under normal conditions. But I think one of the harder questions is what remains when conditions change.

What makes conservation continue when funding becomes uncertain, institutions become weaker, people face new pressures, or the original project team is no longer there?

If conservation remains only a project, it may disappear when the project ends.

For me, this is not only an ecological or institutional question. It is also a psychological and social one.

Conservation psychology can help us ask whether conservation has become connected to people's identity, values, habits, emotional attachment, sense of responsibility, and relationship with place. In other words, is conservation only something people support when there is an external incentive, or has it become part of how they see themselves and their community?

This is one area where I feel psychology can contribute more deeply to conservation. Not only by measuring attitudes or awareness, but by helping us understand what kind of relationship people have with conservation, how stable that relationship is, and how we might design better interventions to strengthen it.

I would be very interested to hear from others working on conservation psychology, human dimensions, community conservation, social norms, or long-term conservation outcomes:

How do you think we can understand and measure whether conservation has become durable in people and communities?

For colleagues who are also members of SSWG, I am currently a candidate for the SSWG board. The official candidate statements and voting link are available here.

Best,
Iman Ebrahimi

------------------------------
Iman Ebrahimi
Isfahan
------------------------------

Dear colleagues,

I have been thinking a lot about durability in conservation.

Many conservation projects can look successful for a while. A species may receive more attention, a community may participate, a policy may be approved, or a local project may work well under normal conditions. But I think one of the harder questions is what remains when conditions change.

What makes conservation continue when funding becomes uncertain, institutions become weaker, people face new pressures, or the original project team is no longer there?

If conservation remains only a project, it may disappear when the project ends.

For me, this is not only an ecological or institutional question. It is also a psychological and social one.

Conservation psychology can help us ask whether conservation has become connected to people's identity, values, habits, emotional attachment, sense of responsibility, and relationship with place. In other words, is conservation only something people support when there is an external incentive, or has it become part of how they see themselves and their community?

This is one area where I feel psychology can contribute more deeply to conservation. Not only by measuring attitudes or awareness, but by helping us understand what kind of relationship people have with conservation, how stable that relationship is, and how we might design better interventions to strengthen it.

I would be very interested to hear from others working on conservation psychology, human dimensions, community conservation, social norms, or long-term conservation outcomes:

How do you think we can understand and measure whether conservation has become durable in people and communities?

For colleagues who are also members of SSWG, I am currently a candidate for the SSWG board. The official candidate statements and voting link are available here.

Best,
Iman Ebrahimi

Dear colleagues,

I have been thinking a lot about durability in conservation.

Many conservation projects can look successful for a while. A species may receive more attention, a community may participate, a policy may be approved, or a local project may work well under normal conditions. But I think one of the harder questions is what remains when conditions change.

What makes conservation continue when funding becomes uncertain, institutions become weaker, people face new pressures, or the original project team is no longer there?

If conservation remains only a project, it may disappear when the project ends.

For me, this is not only an ecological or institutional question. It is also a psychological and social one.

Conservation psychology can help us ask whether conservation has become connected to people's identity, values, habits, emotional attachment, sense of responsibility, and relationship with place. In other words, is conservation only something people support when there is an external incentive, or has it become part of how they see themselves and their community?

This is one area where I feel psychology can contribute more deeply to conservation. Not only by measuring attitudes or awareness, but by helping us understand what kind of relationship people have with conservation, how stable that relationship is, and how we might design better interventions to strengthen it.

I would be very interested to hear from others working on conservation psychology, human dimensions, community conservation, social norms, or long-term conservation outcomes:

How do you think we can understand and measure whether conservation has become durable in people and communities?

For colleagues who are also members of SSWG, I am currently a candidate for the SSWG board. The official candidate statements and voting link are available here.

Best,
Iman Ebrahimi