Evaluating a strategic approach for identifying and ranking holistic sets of indicators of conservation project success

Evidence-based conservation often fails to balance ecological and socioeconomic measures of success. Indicator selection is often biased by expert opinion, misaligned with goals, and lacks scientific rigor. We developed and tested the Holistic Indicator Selection Protocol (HISP), a semi-systematic approach to improve indicator prioritization in conservation planning. Based on the widely adopted Conservation Standards, HISP combines expert and stakeholder input with structural situation model parameters to identify and rank ecological and socioeconomic candidate indicators relevant to evaluating conservation success. In a case study landscape with typical conservation challenges, we applied four HISP indices to score indicators based on their effectiveness at representing: (1) conservation threats; (2) project strategy defined by a situation model; (3) expert opinion; and (4) stakeholder opinion. We statistically evaluated each index for its ability to minimize selection biases and complexity. Indicators represented ecological and socioeconomic dimensions, direct and indirect threats, and governance strategies. The threat-based index prioritized socioeconomic challenges, whereas the model-based index balanced socioeconomic and ecological indicators, suggesting broader applicability. Opinion-based indices introduced some biases but remained valuable for data-limited contexts. HISP offers a transparent, adaptable method for prioritizing conservation indicators—supporting rather than replacing expert judgment—enabling refinement based on feasibility and conceptual alignment.