Abstract
Evidence-based decision making is at the core of environmental conservation and management. Globally, considering and utilising the best available science or evidence is highlighted as a key pillar by conservation and management agencies in policy and guidance documents. The use of best available science is an iterative process in any domain. An evidence-based decision-making approach requires the use of the best available science and, following the gathering and assessing of information or data, new hypotheses can be formed and tested. A key obstacle in the uptake of evidence in decision making is that researchers who collect and disseminate the latest data or knowledge and those that rely on evidence to make decisions are subject to very different pressures, drivers and timelines. As such we require a process, that engages decision makers and stakeholders, assesses the best available evidence and delivers supporting “evidence bridges”. This document summarises a process by which “evidence bridges” can be established in various domains to support evidence-based decision-making (the 4 As – Ask, Assemble, Assess and Apply).