Key considerations for the long-term success of community conservation initiatives
A key challenge in community-based conservation lies in fulfilling the dual goals of benefitting nature and people. Considerable risk exists in both the short and long-term that one goal eclipses the other, with either conservation objectives or livelihood objectives being pursued at the expense or neglect of progress on the other goal. Moreover, community-based conservation initiatives frequently involve many different stakeholders, from local, grassroots participants and local special interest groups to local and regional government, national and international environmental or development NGOs, foundations and funding bodies. Each stakeholder will have their own objectives and raison d’être, and yet in becoming involved, all should have the shared goal of success of the initiative as a whole.
This 2-hour session will consist of a series of oral presentations from long-term individual community-based conservation initiatives that focus on the trajectory and interplay of success (or failure) of social, economic and ecological goals within individual community-based conservation initiatives. Talks will be followed by a panel discussion on key considerations in accompanying nascent community conservation initiatives on their path to long-term success and sustainability. Discussion topics will include characteristics of successful partnerships; mitigating potential imbalances among stakeholders in terms of knowledge, power, finances or capacity; adaptive management, monitoring, and the roles of scientific, local and traditional knowledge; cultural, socio-economic and geographic inclusiveness; pacing change; managing and fulfilling expectations; and handling the unforeseen.
Panelists:
Dr. Dilys Roe – International Institute for Environment and Development
Meteu-Naa Chielinah Bandanaa – Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary
Jessica Brown – UNDP Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme
Big Issues: Biodiversity , Big Issues: Human-wellbeing , Big Issues: Indigenous peoples , Big Issues: Resource use
