Conservation Action Planning - Tool Bridging Science and Stewardship

Conservation Action Planning Cycle

(courtesy D. Salzer, TNC)

Last week I joined more than 150 conservation coaches from around the world to share knowledge and discuss the current state of practice of conservation planning at the 2010 Conservation Coaches Rally in Santa Cruz, CA. The 2010 rally was the fourth gathering of coaches. I had the privilege to join the previous two in 2006 and 2008. This year was the first since the conservation coaches network strategic plan was completed – it was great to see a process that I had been so actively involved in just two short years earlier flourish and take shape!

The Conservation Coaches Network is an organized and supported network of peers that spans six continents and 25 organizations. The mission of the network is to catalyze effective conservation across lands and waters worldwide through supporting sound action planning, coaching, knowledge sharing and innovation. (see http://conserveonline.org/workspaces/cbdgateway/cap/efroymson_network/index_html)

While much of my experience with the network was based on my previous experience leading and coaching Conservation Action Planning teams in The Nature Conservancy, since assuming my new role at the Alaska SeaLife Center in late 2008, I have also been involved in teaching Federal, University, industry and fellow non profit partners in Alaska about this process. Conservation Action Planning (and its related parallel systems such as the “Open Standards for Conservation”) are now widely used as the basis for species and area management and have even gained widespread use for cultural heritage conservation.
One of the most widely appreciated features of conservation action planning (CAP) is the systematic approach it provides. CAP enables scientists, communities, academics, resources managers, industry and business stakeholders to share their vision and work on strategies in a transparent manner. The knowledge generated can then be used to develop a project management plan that enables not only process milestones to be tracked, but which ultimately enables outcomes to be measured and strategies to be adapted/adjusted as the project team gains experience.

CAP has now evolved to a point where there are both “basic” and more sophisticated planning tools available and there are even common methodologies (see http://www.conservationmeasures.org/) and reporting systems (see http://conpro.tnc.org/) to enable organizations to share knowledge and experience easily. One of the most exciting developments in recent years has been the establishment of a dedicated new CAP software known as Miradi® which enables users to rapidly move between the various stages of CAP whilst using a common visual tool for framing strategies (see https://miradi.org/) .

CAP has many potential applications in the work we do here at the Alaska SeaLife Center and is increasingly of interest to our many research, education and stewardship partners. For that reason, I’ll be conducting a CAP orientation training here at the Center on Monday 13th December at 4pm as part of our monthly science lecture series – all are welcome to join! I’d be happy to repeat this workshop for our partners in other centers in Alaska also if there is demand.