Read how Blue Ventures is accelerating progress by exchanging learning and supporting new partners in their latest blog.
Browse Vital Signs’ new atlas on Rwanda providing baseline data on agriculture, ecosystems and human wellbeing.
Reflect with Chris Sandbrook in his new blog on the uneven power relations in conservation.
Add your case study to IIED’s new Conservation, crime and communities database.
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IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016
At the beginning of September, the IUCN hosted the World Conservation Congress (WCC) 2016 ‘Planet at the crossroads’, in Hawai’i. Hot on the agenda was Indigenous Peoples rights, with UN special rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz stressing that ‘projects supported by major conservation organisations continue to displace local peoples from their ancestral homes’.
In a commentary for Mongabay.com, IED’s Phil Franks, sent a strong message to WCC – start taking equity more seriously to ensure a fairer future for conservation.
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Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Government and members of CITES have been meeting for the 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP 17), held in Johannesburg. Leading up to the meeting the falling number of African elephants grabbed the headlines, but it was clear at CITES that there were some
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very different ideas on how this should be tackled (Photo: Northern Rangelands Trust).
Should all African elephants be bunked up from Appendix II to Appendix I (thereby banning all ivory trade)? This proposal was championed by The African Elephant Coalition, some 29 nations led by Kenya and Benin. Or, should countries be allowed to legalise ivory trade? Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe argued that this must be the case for their countries, where elephant numbers are rising. So too did Botswana, until in a dramatic U-turn they changed their mind.
After tense exchanges the call for stronger protection through an Appendix I listing was defeated, with the EU playing a significant role in blocking the proposal.
As CITES CoP 17 closes, it’s important to remember that protection isn’t conservation’s everything – and in fact, protection forces have been implicated in some awful human rights abuses.
To help save Africa’s vanishing wildlife, civil society can help turn the tide – IIED and partners contend that in the fight against poaching reforms that strengthen local conservation incentives through more securely devolved user rights and control over wildlife revenues must be a top priority.
Conservation Watch
And finally, check out the recently launched website, Conservation Watch. This new platform is very relevant to PCLG readers and shares information on the impacts of protected area policy and practice in the Global South. Brought to you by Chris Lang (who you might know from REDD Monitor), Conservation Watch deconstructs media attention (like this recent piece on militarised conservation at Virunga) and provides a weekly news round up.
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Evaluating the impacts of conservation interventions on human wellbeing: Guidance for practitioners
This guidance from University College London, Imperial College London and Oxford University aims to demystify the process of social impact evaluation. It takes practitioners through the key steps in an evaluation: 1) thinking through the aims of the evaluation; 2) defining relevant wellbeing outcomes and indicators; 3) designing the evaluation to link outcomes to the intervention; and 4) collecting data including applying methods to account for bias, social dynamics and ethical considerations. The guidance provides a range of real life case studies and ideas for appropriate methods and tools.
The State Of Community-Based Natural Resource Management in Southern Africa: Assessing Progress and Looking Ahead
The South African Institute of International Affairs provides a historical overview of CBNRM in this paper, and examines CBNRM’s degrees of success in addressing rural livelihood improvement through benefit sharing and income generation, while addressing biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource use. It considers the evolution of CBNRM policy, and highlights some of the lessons learnt from the cases of Namibia and Botswana in strengthening community-based decision making and management.
Supporting climate resilience of communities in and around protected areas
UNEP-WCMC have released a new manual for practitioners and researchers on Resilience and Adaptation Planning for Communities in Protected Areas. The manual outlines a practical and pragmatic community-based resilience and adaptation planning process, offering step-by-step guidance on initiating the planning process, engaging the community in it and refining and implementing action plans. It is aimed at practitioners from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), government departments, protected area management and research institutions with some experience in participatory work and a good understanding of climate change.
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The 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) takes place from the 24th of September to the 5th of October in Johannesburg, South Africa.
A call for abstracts for a session on ‘Ecosystem services for poverty alleviation: a critical engagement’ to be held at the American Association of Geographers. The deadline is October the 15th 2016.
The World Mountain Forum - Mountains for Our Future - will take place from the 17th to the 20th of October in Mbale, Uganda.
The ESPA (ecosystem services for poverty alleviation) Annual Science Conference will take place in Nairobi, Kenya between the 17th and 18th of November.
The first conference of the African Ecosystem Services Partnership will take place on the 21st – 25th of November in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.
The 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) of the Convention on Biological Diversity will be held in Cancun, Mexico, from 4th – 17th of December 2016.
Applications open for the 2017 Student Conference on Conservation Science to be held in Cambridge, UK from 28th – 30th of March. The deadline for applications is the 21st of October 2016.
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Future Earth are asking you to help identify the three most compelling research questions related to the governance of ecosystem service and their benefits. Take the 5 minute online survey.
NGO Dahari in the Comoro Islands is looking for a Programmes Manager. The extended deadline for applying is the 10th of October (previously 30th of September).
Wageningen University (Netherlands), CIFOR and ICRAF will host a 2 week course on Landscape Governance from 3rd to the 14th of April 2017 in Bogor, Indonesia. Scholarships are available if applied for before October 18th 2016.
The Whitley Award has announced its annual call for applications for 2017. The award includes a financial prize of £35,000 in funding. Apply by the 31st of October 2016.
Darwin Post Projects and Fellowship schemes are now open for applications. The deadline for both schemes is the 7th of November 2016.
Call for applications from The Conservation Leadership Programme’s Conservationist Awards: 1) Future Conservation Award; 2) Conservation Follow Up Award; and 3) Conservation Leadership Award. The deadline for the awards is the 28th of November 2016.
WWF’s Russell E. Train Fellowships support individuals pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree in conservation. Applications are now welcome for: Building Capacity in Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience for Conservation; Building Capacity in Sustainable Food Systems and Conservation; Conservation in Mozambique; and Current & Aspiring University Faculty for Conservation. The deadline for applications is the 1st of March 2017.
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