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Open research questions in Environmental Conservation and Management

100 gap statements mined from Environmental Conservation and Management papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 999 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • Non‐physical risks, such as weak governance and limited data transparency, were most frequently reported, often co‐occurred, and enabled other failures.

    Permanence Risks to Biodiversity and Nature‐Based Carbon Offsets · 2026 · DOI

  • Existing regulatory frameworks for nature are insufficient to address the root causes of nature decline, without coupled mechanisms that restore the dynamic ecological and evolutionary processes through which nature itself can thrive and respond to global change.

    Recovering Ecosystems As Well As Their Constituent Parts · 2026 · DOI

  • It also discusses the need for a systems-based approach to environmental risk assessment. The system must ensure fair access and market incentives for lower-impact products.

    PESTICIDE REGULATION AND THE OMNIBUS PROCESS A systems-based regional management approach: operational framework, fair access, and market incentives · 2026 · DOI

  • The current EU pesticide regulation does not account for cumulative chemical pressure. There is a need for a systems-based approach to environmental risk assessment. The paper identifies a gap in the current regulation and proposes a novel solution.

    PESTICIDE REGULATION AND THE OMNIBUS PROCESS A systems-based regional management approach: operational framework, fair access, and market incentives · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of consideration for the ethical implications of conservation policies on local communities. The need for a shared responsibility approach to conservation.

    Conservation Bioethics between the Rights of Local Communities and Global Responsibility in Combating Ivory Trafficking · 2026 · DOI

  • The need for a comprehensive understanding of environmental regulations and their impact on the environment. The importance of harmonizing economic and social development with environmental protection.

    General Considerations on European and National Regulations on Environmental Protection · 2026 · DOI

  • For instance, future studies could examine differences in responses and perceptions across stakeholder groups or geographical regions; investigate the determinants of restoration success or failure; or assess how responses vary according to the restoration objectives pursued (for instance, whether stakeholder participation or perceptions of restoration success differ amongst objectives).

    Restoration information: A European database of ecological restoration knowledge from stakeholder surveys · 2026 · DOI

  • The interactive tool will incorporate clickable elements and links to additional materials, thus transforming the complex structure into a more accessible and engaging format. Explanation boxes and pop-up descriptions will provide users with immediate guidance on technical terms and complex concepts.

    Framework for Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (FIEA): A structured approach to support evidence-based decision-making · 2026 · DOI

  • This paper contributes a reproducible, evidence-grounded six-theme classification of biodiversity accounting studies (N = 122) and an integrative heuristic that links methodological innovations, disclosure practices and socioeconomic outcomes; thereby revealing both an empirical concentration on disclosure and an under-researched policy-relevant gap in public-sector and accountability-focused research.

    Biodiversity research: a systematic literature review and direction for future research · 2026 · DOI

  • The existing regulations on nature protection have shortcomings, including lack of clear or binding targets and deadlines. The implementation of obligations for natural resource restoration is challenging.

    How to protect and rebuild biodiversity and ecosystems across the European Union? From a sectoral perspective to horizontal challenges – An overviewof EU nature protection law · 2026 · DOI

  • The study was not designed as a formal systematic or scoping review. Limited data availability is a constraint on OECM effectiveness. Governance fragmentation is a challenge for OECM implementation.

    Conserving biodiversity beyond protected-area networks in Mediterranean countries: challenges and opportunities for OECMs · 2026 · DOI

  • Traditional conservation models are limited, and broader, more integrated conservation strategies are urgently needed. There is a lack of understanding of the potential and limitations of OECMs in Mediterranean countries.

    Conserving biodiversity beyond protected-area networks in Mediterranean countries: challenges and opportunities for OECMs · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies challenges related to the management of landscape parks, including the need to balance conservation and development goals. The findings highlight the importance of participatory forms of governance in addressing these challenges.

    Redefining the role of landscape parks in Poland: A Q method analysis of stakeholder perspectives from the Małopolskie Voivodship · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could focus on exploring the implications of the findings for policy and management decisions regarding landscape parks. Further studies could investigate the applicability of the Q methodology in other contexts and regions.

    Redefining the role of landscape parks in Poland: A Q method analysis of stakeholder perspectives from the Małopolskie Voivodship · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on developing more effective interventions for sustainable resource management. The study suggests that future research should explore the development of more effective monitoring systems for sustainable resource management.

    Innovative Strategies for Sustainable Resource Management: Balancing Ecosystem Integrity and Human Development · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the existing literature on sustainable resource management, highlighting the need for a multi-sectoral approach that considers both ecological and social aspects of sustainability. The review also identifies a gap in the development of effective monitoring systems for sustainable resource management.

    Innovative Strategies for Sustainable Resource Management: Balancing Ecosystem Integrity and Human Development · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of a unified global indicator for biodiversity impacts. The need to simplify the nuanced nature of biodiversity.

    Value-transforming financial, carbon and biodiversity footprint accounting · 2026 · DOI

  • This review provides a comprehensive overview of how EC indicators are used in ES assessments, offering critical insights for scientists and policy-makers to design robust ecosystem assessment strategies. The conclusion follows the structure of the three research questions outlined in the Introduction.

    Towards Integrated Ecosystem Assessments: A literature review on linking ecosystem condition indicators to ecosystem services · 2026 · DOI

  • Identifying areas where durable biodiversity management is viable within working landscapes.

    Revealed-behaviour models to map agri-environment contract feasibility for Finland’s semi-natural grasslands and wooded pastures · 2026 · DOI

  • Further analysis of the impact of international conservation regimes on African rural communities. Examination of the effectiveness of alternative livelihoods in reducing poaching. Investigation of the role of corruption and weak governance in the ivory trade.

    Conservation Bioethics between the Rights of Local Communities and Global Responsibility in Combating Ivory Trafficking · 2026 · DOI

  • The FIEA development has set out two primary objectives: (i) To develop a unified Framework for integrated ecosystem assessments that ensures applicability for scientific assessments as well as decision-making in both public and private sectors, integrates ecological, economic and social dimensions, incorporates considerations of ecosystem condition, services and accounting approaches and provides the level…

    Framework for Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (FIEA): A structured approach to support evidence-based decision-making · 2026 · DOI

  • Complex issues generally unravel gaps in knowledge, mixed interests, and a wide range of stakeholder perspectives and these raise analytical, political and managerial difficulties.

    Policy Officials’ Views on Challenges and Opportunities to the Use of the Natural Capital Approach to Promote Environmental Improvement in England · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper does not provide a comprehensive solution to the gaps identified - It highlights the need for further research and development of an evidentiary…

    Making soil biodiversity actionable: genomic evidence, policy gaps, and implementation pathways in British Columbia · 2026 · DOI

  • Development of an evidentiary infrastructure for genomic soil biodiversity evidence - Integration of genomic tools with baselines, conventional soil indicators, and monitoring…

    Making soil biodiversity actionable: genomic evidence, policy gaps, and implementation pathways in British Columbia · 2026 · DOI

  • Further development of the BIOVALENT methodology. Application of the methodology to different types of organizations. Investigation of the impact of value-transforming accounting on organizational decision-making.

    Value-transforming financial, carbon and biodiversity footprint accounting · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Environmental Conservation and Management

Most recent work

Find a gap in your own Environmental Conservation and Management sub-topic

This page shows what the Environmental Conservation and Management literature already flags as unresolved. To narrow it to your specific question, search the Research Gap Finder: the search is free with a free account and lists the papers closest to your topic first. Unlocking that topic (50 credits, charged once) fills the comparison table from our 7.9M-paper local library and writes the gaps from its rows.

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) There is a need for a systems-based approach to environmental risk assessment (“PESTICIDE REGULATION AND THE OMNIBUS PROCESS A systems-based regional…”, 2026); (2) The lack of consideration for the ethical implications of conservation policies on local communities (“Conservation Bioethics between the Rights of Local Communities and Global…”, 2026); (3) The existing regulations on nature protection have shortcomings, including lack of clear or binding targets and deadlines (“How to protect and rebuild biodiversity and ecosystems across the European…”, 2026); (4) There is a lack of understanding of the potential and limitations of OECMs in Mediterranean countries (“Conserving biodiversity beyond protected-area networks in Mediterranean…”, 2026); (5) Future research could focus on exploring the implications of the findings for policy and management decisions regarding landscape parks (“Redefining the role of landscape parks in Poland: A Q method analysis of…”, 2026). 100 gap statements have been mined from Environmental Conservation and Management papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 999 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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