1 / 21

Multi-Area Conservation Strategies

Multi-Area Conservation Strategies. Purposes. Multi-area conservation strategies should explicitly serve one or more of the following purposes: To abate threats at multiple conservation areas To enhance the viability of conservation targets at multiple conservation areas

Download Presentation

Multi-Area Conservation Strategies

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Multi-Area Conservation Strategies

  2. Purposes • Multi-area conservation strategies should explicitly serve one or more of the following purposes: • To abate threats at multiple conservation areas • To enhance the viability of conservation targets at multiple conservation areas • To build capacity or generate demonstrable leverage towards the successful application of some other conservation strategy • The multiple conservation areas may be within or across operating units, political jurisdictions, large-scale project areas, ecoregions, or other relevant aggregations

  3. Types of Multi-Area Strategies • Establishing Systems of Conservation Areas • Securing Public Funds for Conservation • Securing Tax or Market-Based Incentives for Conservation • Developing Conservation Institutions • Replicating Successful Strategies Across Multiple Areas • Improving Public Policies to Abate Threats

  4. Systems of Conservation Areas • Public or private officially designated systems of conservation areas • Degree of assured protection may vary greatly -- from strictly voluntary to high levels of statutory protection • TNC role may range from providing information to decision-makers to active development of conservation area systems • Examples: • Wilderness Act (no major TNC involvement) • State Nature Preserve Systems • State registry programs -- voluntary landowner agreements • Providing ecoregional or site-specific information to USFS for designation of natural areas or for 10-year plans • Westvaco designation of natural areas on company lands

  5. Public Policies • Many public policies to abate threats are regulatory in nature, but can be an important tool • Examples • Endangered Species Act • NEPA and Clean Water Act (no major TNC involvement) • State Heritage inventory programs were one of the “original” multi-area strategies, beyond their basic inventory function, by connecting to NEPA • California NCCP (conservation planning for coastal sage scrub) • State and federal fire management policies • Statewide, regional or county-level growth management policies • TNC role may range from providing information to decision-makers to active engagement -- but is always non-confrontational and solution-oriented

  6. Public Funds for Conservation • Includes both direct public funds and tax incentives • Examples • LWCF • Parks in Peril • State & local bond initiatives and other dedicated funding sources • State tax credits for easement donations • 50% capital gains exclusion on conservation sales • Debt-for-nature swaps & conservation trust funds • Carbon mitigation funds • 1 cent water tax to protect source of water/watershed • Transportation mitigation funds • Farm Bill

  7. Conservation Institutions • Has been a cornerstone strategy with partners internationally, as well as internally for TNC in the United States • Institutions may be focused country-wide, statewide, regionally, or on one or more functional landscapes • Examples • Development of TNC state programs in the late 1970s and 1980s were one of the “original” multi-area strategies • Development of new in-country organizations • Australia Conservation Fellows: Eight TNC veterans have provided expertise, experience & technical assistance to four leading conservation organizations on targeted assignments • Broad or deep “capacity-building” support to country and regional NGOs • e.g. Pronatura Noreste; Colorado Cattleman’s Land Trust

  8. Replicating Successful Strategies • Developing innovative strategies at action sites and replicating those that prove successful -- e.g. • Bargain sales & govt. co-op land purchases -- from the early 1970s • Demonstration of successful fire management practices • Conservation buyers • Locally funded PDR programs (purchase of development rights) • Application of HCPs (Habitat Conservation Plans) and safe-harbor agreements • Weed co-ops with local ranchers & agencies • Working with Corps of Engineers on dam operations • Applications of many varied federal programs -- e.g. fencing cattle from riparian areas & providing alternative water sources • Need to consider more systematic approach for “diffusion of innovations”

  9. Diffusion of Innovations • Successful diffusion of an innovation depends upon: • Relative advantage to which the innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supercedes • Compatibility with the existing values, past experiences and needs of the potential adopters • Simplicity -- the degree to which the innovation is not difficult to understand and use • Trialability -- the degree to which the innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis • Observability -- the degree to which the innovation is visible to others

  10. Diffusion of Innovations • Diffusion is fundamentally a social process • Most people depend upon a subjective evaluation of an innovation that is conveyed to them by people like themselves (interpersonal networks with near peers) • The greater the members are connected by interpersonal networks, the better the diffusion • Opinion leaders who influence others informally in a desired way with relative frequency • Weak ties can be more important than strong ties From “Diffusion of Innovations”, 4th edition, by Everett Rogers

  11. Other Multi-Area Strategies • The preceding five categories capture the largest number of multi-area strategies. • Other potential fruitful arenas • Market-based incentives for conservation • Certification of forest products or sustainable forestry practices • Engagement with the forest industry to develop sustainable forestry standards • Value-added premiums for conservation-based production, such as Conservation Beef • Conservation “scorecards” • Conservation organizations use varied scorecards (e.g. 10 most endangered parks, rivers, etc…; Chesapeake Bay Fdtn’s annual “State of the Bay”) to point attention to areas or issues

  12. Multi-Area Strategies to Abate Threats • Conditions Required… • Abating a threat (or enhancing viability) requires that strategic action be taken at a scale beyond individual sites • The threat is ranked “High” or “Very High” across multiple occurrences of a target • The threat manifests itself in a similar way across multiple occurrences of a common target • Or… • Capacity for strategic action across multiple areas (e.g. $$) can be better developed at a larger scale than individual sites (e.g. state/province/national)

  13. Formulating Multi-Area Strategies to Abate Threats • The Same as Single-Area Strategies... • Clearly link the source to the stress to the system & a key ecological attribute... in order to show real impact on a target’s viability • Determine the desired outcome from abating the threat - the objective that we seek • Objective must be related back to a key ecological attribute benchmark for “Good” • Develop compelling strategic actions & action steps to achieve the objective • Assess Benefits/Feasibility/Cost to compare the proposed strategy to others • Secure lead individual to assume responsibility for implementing the strategy

  14. Trade-Offs • There is a probable trade-off to consider between single-area strategies and multi-area strategies: conservation impact vs. scope • Highly focused strategies at functional landscapes may be more likely to achieve tangible, enduring results (impact) -- but at a fewer number of conservation areas (scope) • Strategies that seek to influence conservation at multiple areas have a broader reach (scope) -- but not produce as much certainty of tangible, enduring results (impact)

  15. Is there a “sweet spot” on the curve? Direct TNC Action at 20 Landscapes Influencing Partners at 200 Sites Tangible, Enduring Results vs. Working at Scale High IMPACT: Tangible Enduring Results -- Threat Abatement & Enhanced Health of Targets C B A Low SCOPE: Number of Areas Impacted High

  16. Not “Either-Or”... • Single-area & multi-area strategies are not mutually exclusive • Focused action at a small number of landscapes will achieve enormous & enduring portfolio conservation • In a typical U.S. ecoregion, an average of 25 functional landscapes captures: • All coarse-scale ecological systems, across an array of environmental gradients • Two-thirds of the conservation targets in each ecoregion, on the average • Over half of all target occurrences, on the average • Direct action at functional landscapes also provides benefits in relation to multi-area strategies • A testing and proving ground for new strategies • High credibility for TNC with agencies, partners & donors

  17. Locus of Action • The best locus of action will differ for each multi-area strategy • The locus for a given strategy might be: • Large-scale conservation program area, with multiple sites • State/province -- within a state/province or statewide • Regional -- networks of conservation areas with similar targets, threats, institutions, etc. • National -- within a country or country-wide • Institutional -- focused within a targeted agency or organization • Ecoregions are an ideal locus for setting priorities; however, for most multi-area strategies ecoregions are not an ideal locus for taking action • “Structure follows strategy” -- the development of the strategy should guide the locus for action and implementation structure, not vice-versa

  18. Evaluating Strategies • Both single-area and multi-area strategies can be evaluated by the same broad conceptual framework: Benefits, Feasibility & Cost • Benefits include impact, scope, duration & leverage, plus TNC’s value added: • Impact • Degree of threat abatement secured, and the criticality of threats • Degree of enhanced viability for conservation targets • Scope: number of conservation targets and/or areas impacted • Duration: probable duration of the impacts (i.e. potential for enduring results) • Leverage: in some cases, engagement in a particular strategy may generate leverage for other conservation strategies (e.g. development of political support) • TNC Value Added: What degree of contribution and improvement to the benefits is TNC likely to make with its proposed engagement ?

  19. Evaluating Strategies (continued) • Feasibility of successful implementation is determined by • Availability of talented staff to lead the strategy • The ability to motivate & engage key constituencies or partners • Inherent complexity of the undertaking • Ability to secure funds • Costs • Estimated cost of proposed Conservancy engagement • Consider the source of funding • Discretionary funds in hand • New dollars that could go to several different purposes • New dollars that can only go to one purpose • The overall evaluation of engagement in a strategy is a function of the Benefits, Feasibility and Costs

  20. Evaluating Strategies The overall “Strategy Opportunity” Rank is a function of Benefits, Feasibility & Costs

  21. Some Issues • Who takes responsibility for strategies that require leadership, or even action, beyond the project area? • TNC (and probably many other organizations) lack a process for even evaluating the many multi-area strategies that might flow up from project teams, let alone a process for “handing off” responsibility • Is the multi-area strategy in lieu of… or in addition to… single area (e.g invasives) • What works best at what scale • What is the value added -- effective/efficient

More Related