Amy Hinsley

Co‐design, an approach that seeks to incorporate the experiences and perspectives of different stakeholders, is increasingly being used to develop audience‐oriented behaviour change interventions. The complexity of wildlife consumption behaviour makes the co‐design approach an important potential tool for the design of conservation interventions that aim to reduce illegal wildlife trade. Yet, little is known about how to adapt and apply the co‐design approach to the wildlife trade sector. Here, we applied a co‐design approach to develop interventions aimed at reducing illegal animal‐based medicine consumption in China. We conducted three workshops with key stakeholders: consumers of animal‐based medicines, pharmacy workers who sell them and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) doctors who prescribe them. We then developed a theory of change to ensure the relevance of the co‐designed intervention prototypes. Our co‐design process identified five main pathways of interventions, including two inclusive solutions that may have been previously overlooked in behaviour change work in this context. These were an intervention to promote the appropriate use of TCM and one to increase consumers' capacity to identify the legality of products. Our prototype interventions also enhanced existing views related to the role of medical practitioners in health‐risk communication. We used our co‐design process and reflections on its application to this specific market to provide guidelines for future conservation program planning in the broader wildlife trade context. Some intervention prototypes produced during co‐design may need wider stakeholder involvement to increase their feasibility for implementation. We show that the co‐design process can integrate multiple stakeholders' perspectives in the ideation stage, and has the potential to produce inclusive intervention designs that could drive innovation in conservation efforts to reduce illegal consumption of a range of wild species. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Political will is a critical determinant of the success or failure of environmental policies and interventions. Harnessing the political will necessary to implement environmental solutions can be challenging because environmental priorities may compete with other societal interests in policymaking. Environmental solutions are more politically feasible if fundamentally aligned with the core interests of key policymakers. Understanding the political agendas of decision‐makers enables conservationists to identify where political will already exists, and allows environmental objectives to piggyback on the motivation to deliver results. In this paper, we explore the core interests of the Chinese leadership to uncover opportunities to leverage Beijing's political will for sustainability and conservation gains. China's growing influence on ecosystems and natural resource use both within and beyond its borders makes an analysis of its leadership's political will valuable and timely. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.