Conservation translocations are a frequently used management tool applied by nature conservationists. Many conservation translocations have a low success rate, which is caused by various biological and societal factors. While conservation translocations are often set in human-dominated landscapes, they tend to be poorly embedded in social-ecological systems. Indeed, the primacy of biological aspects in translocation processes seems to undercut attention for societal dimensions. A key societal dimension is public participation. In this article, we identified and analyzed processes that affect the implementation of public participation. In addition, we considered whether, and under which circumstances, a legislative framework enables meaningful public participation. We used a Policy Arrangement Approach to grasp the processes at play. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with key-actors involved in the design and planning of conservation translocations in Scotland. Interviewees argued that inclusive decision-making was either unintentionally or deliberately neglected. Underlying causes related to regularly witnessed barriers such as traditional expert-driven approaches, entrenched power relations, and uncertainties on how to deliver open and inclusive public participation practices. Moreover, there was a mismatch between conservationists' expectations on how public participation should be implemented and recognized fundamentals of public participation, e.g. transparency and dialogue. The results demonstrate that while a legislative framework raises awareness and provides guidance, it is unable to take away current barriers. Due to the uncertainties around democratic decision-making, it is unrealistic to expect that a mere legislative framework alone would solve current challenges. Yet, conversely the absence of one may increase current challenges.

中文翻译：

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公众参与保护易地决策：立法框架的重要性和局限性

保护易位是自然保护主义者经常使用的管理工具。许多保护易位的成功率很低，这是由各种生物和社会因素造成的。虽然保护易地通常设置在人类主导的景观中，但它们往往很难融入社会生态系统。事实上，易位过程中生物学方面的首要地位似乎削弱了对社会层面的关注。一个关键的社会维度是公众参与。在本文中，我们确定并分析了影响公众参与实施的过程。此外，我们还考虑了立法框架是否以及在何种情况下能够实现有意义的公众参与。我们使用了策略安排方法来掌握发挥作用的过程。对参与苏格兰保护易地设计和规划的主要参与者进行了 16 次半结构化访谈。受访者认为，包容性决策要么是无意的，要么是故意的。与经常看到的障碍相关的潜在原因，例如传统的专家驱动方法、根深蒂固的权力关系以及如何提供开放和包容的公众参与实践的不确定性。此外，保护主义者对如何实施公众参与的期望与公认的公众参与基本原则（例如透明度和对话）之间存在不匹配。结果表明，虽然立法框架可以提高认识并提供指导，但它无法消除当前的障碍。由于民主决策的不确定性，期望仅靠立法框架就能解决当前的挑战是不现实的。然而，相反，缺乏一个可能会增加当前的挑战。