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Capacity to Conserve

If conservation is to be successful and sustainable, it needs to be driven by local stakeholders. Helping local people develop the expertise they need is at the heart of Fauna & Flora International’s work.

We work with individuals and institutions to give them the knowledge, skills and tools to effectively carry out conservation. Our approach has always been through partnership - a mutually-beneficial relationship with a common purpose, in which each partner brings something to the table.

The support we provide is entirely context-specific; we aim to understand the current capacities and what is needed before intervening. Our support is long-term and we see ourselves in a mentoring role, working side-by-side with local people and organisations.

Building institutional capacity

FFI often enters into long-term partnerships with local or national groups, such as government agencies, national NGOs, and communities. We typically support them by creating better management systems and resources, and have even helped to create new national conservation institutions where none existed previously.

• The Sustainable Tibetan Communities Project helps to guide local partner groups through project planning and implementation, financial management, and reporting.
• Developing a protected area management plan for Igneada, Turkey.

Developing the capacity of individuals

Improving the knowledge and skills of staff is a vital component of institutional capacity building. FFI runs vocational training classes for national personnel, provides learning materials, and supports individuals to take part in workshops and conferences. We also occasionally sponsor outstanding conservationists to obtain higher qualifications.

• Conservation Leadership Programme – Innovative partnership of four international conservation organisations and BP that develops the future leaders in conservation.
• Creation of a new Masters of Science in Conservation Biology course in Cambodia.

Making funding available for locally-driven projects

FFI works with in-country organisations to develop successful fundraising strategies, including proposals to major donors. We also disseminate small grants to encourage and enable other people to develop conservation and sustainable use initiatives.

• Providing small grants to support alternative livelihoods for communities in Kazakhstan.
• Support to Natural World Heritage Sites through the Rapid Response Facility.

Sharing information and lessons learned

FFI is well-placed to help local conservationists network and disseminate their results through international publications and conferences. This also enhances the effectiveness of FFI by exposing our staff to new conservation techniques and approaches.

• Strengthening partnership through learning from experience and sharing lessons learned.
• Oryx, the International Journal of Conservation.
  

To learn more, the following documents are available to download:

• Guidance for working with other organisations
• Partnership checklist: issues to consider when developing a joint project