Project Resources

Building Capacity To Achieve Enduring Conservation Results

• Hypothesis: to achieve our objectives and

maintain results over time...

Build capacity = abate threats & conserve targets

• This scale is a “work in progress” over the last 10

years

• Once again -- key resource factors

Key Points to Introduce This Step

• The factors should be considered relative to what is

needed to implement the conservation strategies

and achieve the objectives

• “Unified field theory” --these factors apply for projects at all scales worldwide

• The job is never “done”

Key Points to Introduce This Step

Common Issues & Recommendations

• Does “Legal Framework for Conservation” mean that the necessary policies are actually in place?– No… it means the basic framework exists for developing

or enhancing the necessary policies -- e.g. the local government has authority to enact zoning ordinances

• What if my ranking for a factor is somewhere in between “High” and “Medium,” for example?– Don’t worry about precision in these rankings; the

assessment & discussion are more important than the score

Common Issues & Recommendations

• The benchmarks for “High” sometimes seem too low -- shouldn’t we do better?– The benchmarks were designed for global

application, so they may seem “generous” for some U.S. projects

• Any successful multi-institution partnerships?– Yes, the Malpai Borderlands Group, Gulf

Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership, Gondwana Link, among others

Helpful Hints

Show multiple team capacity scores concurrently & have general discussion among project teams

Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 Project 4 Project 5

Staff Leadership Low High High Very High Low

Multidisciplinary Team Medium High High Very High Medium

Institutional Leadership Medium High Very High Very High Medium

Funding Low Medium Medium High Medium

Legal Framework for Conservation Medium Medium High High High

Community & Constituency Support Medium Medium High High Medium

• Provide time for teams to develop & discuss capacity-building strategies

– Use same approach to develop capacity strategies as conservation strategies

• Objectives, strategic actions, action steps

– Make sure objectives are measurable

– Suggest they work first on a challenging resource

factor

Helpful Hints