The Wildlife Without Borders-Latin America and the Caribbean Program (WWB-LAC) is offering this grant to strengthen conservation efforts and community engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ultimately, conservation is about people. While the biological sciences are essential to understanding the degree to which ecosystems and species are threatened and how to manage them, at the root of most threats are social, political, and economic conditions: poverty, population growth, and inadequate policy planning and implementation. The question is no longer whether to involve local communities in conservation, but how.

As conservation organizations address this question, they face a number of challenges. Constituency building, for example, involves addressing this broad array of social, economic, and political factors affecting communities and wildlife, while at the same time forging stronger human connections with nature—forces which often may appear opposed. While abundant tools exist for reaching people, many conservation initiatives inadequately address the role of people in the conservation equation, thinking, perhaps, that making a poster will transmit sufficient knowledge to change behaviors. Furthermore, many conservation groups work in isolation without the benefit of learning from a broader community or gaining the efficiencies of applying proven tools.

The Wildlife Without Borders Latin America and Caribbean program recently completed a strategic planning process that includes three areas of focus for the 2011 – 2016 timeframe: 1) building the capacity of future conservation leaders through innovative training programs; 2) fostering networks to facilitate learning and collaboration across sites; and 3) creating a conservation ethic while changing attitudes and behaviors.

As part of this strategy for 2011 – 2016, the Wildlife Without Borders Latin America and Caribbean program seeks to address key questions around the topic of building conservation constituencies. For example, what methods really work best to reach target audiences and change attitudes and behaviors—what do people really respond to? How does building an emotional connection with nature affect conservation attitudes and behaviors? What is the role of technology in building conservation constituencies, particularly when juxtaposed with getting more people outside to personally experience nature? How can you address issues of scale, taking locally developed conservation ethics to regional or national policy levels?

Ultimately, conservation is about people. While the biological sciences are essential to understanding the degree to which ecosystems and species are threatened and how to manage them, at the root of most threats are social, political, and economic conditions: poverty, population growth, and inadequate policy planning and implementation. The question is no longer whether to involve local communities in conservation, but how.

As conservation organizations address this question, they face a number of challenges. Constituency building, for example, involves addressing this broad array of social, economic, and political factors affecting communities and wildlife, while at the same time forging stronger human connections with nature—forces which often may appear opposed. While abundant tools exist for reaching people, many conservation initiatives inadequately address the role of people in the conservation equation, thinking, perhaps, that making a poster will transmit sufficient knowledge to change behaviors. Furthermore, many conservation groups work in isolation without the benefit of learning from a broader community or gaining the efficiencies of applying proven tools.

The Wildlife Without Borders Latin America and Caribbean program recently completed a strategic planning process that includes three areas of focus for the 2011 – 2016 timeframe: 1) building the capacity of future conservation leaders through innovative training programs; 2) fostering networks to facilitate learning and collaboration across sites; and 3) creating a conservation ethic while changing attitudes and behaviors.

As part of this strategy for 2011 – 2016, the Wildlife Without Borders Latin America and Caribbean program seeks to address key questions around the topic of building conservation constituencies. For example, what methods really work best to reach target audiences and change attitudes and behaviors—what do people really respond to? How does building an emotional connection with nature affect conservation attitudes and behaviors? What is the role of technology in building conservation constituencies, particularly when juxtaposed with getting more people outside to personally experience nature? How can you address issues of scale, taking locally developed conservation ethics to regional or national policy levels?