Our Approach

This is what we know:
It’s never just about what should be done. It’s about why, how and who does it.

If communities participate in making such decisions, they are likely to have ownership of arising plans and therefore to implement and support them.

This does not mean sitting back and letting the process run its course – we are all equal partners and the more participatory a process, the stronger and more skilled our facilitators need to be.

Building Relationships
  • Build a real relationship with communities, not just one related to our sphere of interest
  • Conflict is inevitable if the stakes are high – such as ownership over and benefits from valuable natural resources
Tackling critical natural resource issues
  • Law enforcement agencies can arrest poachers but only community action can stop poaching
  • Reducing human-wildlife conflict is essential as living with wildlife carries real costs
  • Utilization of wildlife is necessary in developing Africa – if wild animals bring no benefits people won’t conserve them
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Strenthening local capacity and skills
  • High tech and modern science-based solutions are not sustainable if they undermine the local community’s own initiatives that are usually based on their capacity to implement them.
  • Spread training to all members
  • Identify and focus on key skills at key times and adapt guidelines and templates for local needs
  • Allow for structured joint planning
  • Conduct local level monitoring
  • Foster conservancy accountability
Learning and sharing lessons
  • Real learning is always two-way
  • Effective teams need diversity; different skills and a variety of outlooks and cultural values bring strength and creativity
  • Ideas are just five percent; the remainder is in the actual implementation
  • Focus on the solution, not the problem
Involving Women
  • Special strategies are often needed to ensure the inclusion of women, who are major users of resources, are also decision-makers.
  • Build women’s capacity to participate – e.g. hold public speaking courses for women, don’t just push for gender quotas.
Promoting accountability
  • In rural African communities the older generation still plays a moderating, socially responsible role to counter the individualistic attitudes of the younger, western-educated generation. Ensure elders are not excluded by modern technology or lack of local language translation at important meetings.
  • Rights must be devolved to the lowest possible level – conservancy committees work for their conservancy’s members.
  • Economic benefits are important but income on its own can encourage individual greed and corruption. Social benefits are just as important, such as ownership of resources and services, and community empowerment to steer local development.
Adding economical value
  • Valuable natural resources including wildlife need to contribute to local economies of the ordinary rural people who live with and manage them.
  • Always use a triple bottom line approach in tourism and enterprise work with communities – so that income generation and jobs are linked to conservation and social empowerment.
  • Be prepared to offer long-term and strategic support to community-based enterprises