From parachuting to partnership: Fostering collaborative research in protected areas

Research in protected areas (PAs) is often dominated by scientists from
outside the conservation agencies managing them. This can potentially lead
to misalignment with local needs, insensitivity to the local context, and
a lack of investment in and use of local expertise. These issues often
arise when international researchers work in another country without local
engagement (known as “parachute science”). Despite PAs being key end-users
of actionable science, there is limited understanding of the prevalence
and impact of parachute science in these areas. Here, we investigate
parachute versus collaborative research in two national parks in the
Global South (Kruger National Park, South Africa; Nahuel Huapi National
Park, Argentina), and one park from a developed economy (Kakadu National
Park, Australia). To explore the prevalence, risks, benefits, and
complexities of research practices, we analyse patterns of authorship,
funding, and acknowledgment in a random sample of peer-reviewed papers
from research conducted in these parks. Our findings show a higher
incidence of potential parachute science in Kruger National Park (18% of
papers with only out-of-country authors) compared to Nahuel Huapi (4%) and
Kakadu (2%) National Parks. However, the occurrence of internationally
collaborative research (national and international authors) was double in
Global South parks (35-38%) than in the Australian park (18%). The study
illustrates the potential benefits of international collaboration for PAs,
including increased research productivity, expanded funding sources, and
possibly higher impact and visibility of published studies. PAs in
developed countries may have fewer opportunities to obtain those benefits.
Most papers, even those with in-country authors, lacked authors affiliated
with the agency managing the PA, and often failed to even acknowledge
these agencies. This suggests the potential for a different form of
parachute science (which we term “park parachuting”) in which lack of
local involvement may hamper integration of research with management.
Synthesis and applications: Establishing conditions that foster
collaboration between national and international researchers, and between
PA agency staff and external researchers (regardless of their
nationality), would enable parks to better serve as catalysts for research
collaboration. This collaborative approach can facilitate access to
additional funding, enhance research capacity, increase research
productivity, and amplify research impact.