Conservation Planning for Action: End-User Engagement in the Development and Dual-Centric Weighting of a Spatial Decision Support System

The implementation of systematic conservation plans often involves collaboration among several organizations, so attaining consensus on the plan is an important driver success. We utilized participatory action research to explore approach for developing organizations and facilitating implementation. A real-world challenge was addressed in Little Karoo, South Africa by creating a spatial decision support system (SDSS) based primarily weighted multi-criteria GIS overlays, but with “incremental allocation algorithm” allow efficient solution sets (i.e., planning). end-users SDSS participated choice criteria, selection model parameter values, co-defining their group process. co-designed dual-centric weighting process which participants developed set weights values also yielding result that best biodiversity. yielded priorities and, thus, way forward. estimated each organization differed dramatically from other priorities, indicating large discrepancy had been resolved. Our study indicates consensus-building decision-support benefits overlay approaches merit closer attention planning. use overlays incremental algorithm appear be useful streamlining while maintaining rigor complementarity. Finally, we uncovered theoretical psychological ramifications are promising testing.