Analysis of the variety of education and outreach interventions in biodiversity conservation projects in Spain

The Convention on Biological Diversity recognizes education and public outreach interventions as key tools for biodiversity conservation. Reviewing 85 biodiversity conservation projects supported by the Spanish Biodiversity Foundation, we used multivariate statistical analysis to develop an empirical detailed list of environmental communication, education and participation (CEPA) actions and define the main characteristics of these strategies. We found that one-way dissemination of information to mass audiences was the most frequent intervention. When implementing education strategies, schoolchildren were the most common audiences, although training key stakeholders was the second most frequent education activity. Moreover, these interventions were more likely to use teacher-led instructional formats than lessons that engage learners in exploration. Participation strategies were rare. Finally, we provided some considerations to funders to guide their request for proposals related to CEPA interventions.