Transformative change from below? Linking biodiversity governance with the diversity of bottom-up action

Individual actors and actor groups are vital catalysts of transformative change as they are able to initiate bottom-up interventions that nurture and protect biodiversity. This paper analyses biodiversity-focused practices across the civil, market and public spheres to identify the modes of intervention that actors in Europe utilise when they seek to fight biodiversity loss as part of their every-day work or voluntary activism. Studying how actors locate and engage with biodiversity issues allowed us to develop a typology of intervention modes and to unravel interlinkages between biodiversity governance and bottom-up action in a new manner. The seven modes of intervention identified from the rich qualitative data demonstrate how modes of biodiversity action vary in terms of the tangible issues they seek to address. Practitioners and activists locate options for change in resource management practices, production and consumption systems, market conditions, and land-use, amongst others. The findings enact a Europe in which cohesion policies, land-use pressures and power lobbies controlling resource management generate resistance and spark innovation. The aspirations to affect policymaking and biodiversity governance vary from one mode to another. The typology also grants visibility to potentially unrecognised modes and mediations along which transformative change is and might be further catalysed. The categorisation of the modes of intervention thus helps policymakers learn from and engage with innovations and niches. It also makes explicit the critical roles that some grassroots actors have adopted, as governance bodies have not done their share in fostering of transformative change.