Perceptions of Collaboration Among Wildlife Managers in SEAFWA States Between 2022 - 2023

Wildlife conservation success depends on regional conservation efforts, but little is known about barriers and opportunities that ‘boots on the ground’ wildlife conservation practitioners face when tackling regional conservation. This study provides the first data addressing these important questions in the southeastern United States. Surveyed professionals indicated that their top priority for regional conservation efforts was increasing the likelihood of conservation success for species with multi-state ranges, followed by the need to describe threats to species and their habitats. Perhaps not surprisingly, these priority areas were also where conservation practitioners were most likely to work in regional collaborations. The lowest priority for regional conservation efforts was developing plans to adapt conservation actions to climate change, followed by measuring the effectiveness of proposed conservation actions. Developing plans to adapt conservation actions to climate change was also the least likely priority area for conservation practitioners to be currently collaborating and had the least interest for future collaborations. Surveyed professionals indicated that the top barriers they faced in regional conservation projects were participation being too expensive and logistics being too difficult. These results suggest additional funding and simplified protocols for cross-state collaboration may be required to encourage regional conservation initiatives, particularly those perceived as low importance by practitioners.