Conservation Impact - Organizational Consulting to the Conservation Community

An organization’s conservation plan is the clear articulation of where and how it will accomplish its mission by protecting specific natural resources and cultural values. Conservation areas identified across the service area, when taken together, are the suite of sites necessary for conservation success. The conservation plan forms the basis for overarching strategies for both conservation action and organizational development to meet the conservation challenge.

A site conservation plan assesses conditions at a specific conservation area; identifies stresses and sources of stress to target species, natural communities, and cultural resources at the site; and develops strategies to abate or mitigate the stresses. A site plan typically is developed when a conservation area is scheduled for implementation. The plan includes action timelines, the resources needed to accomplish the project, and evaluation criteria necessary to assess success.

Conservation Impact encourages organizations to take a landscape or ecosystem perspective when planning their conservation activities. This ensures that the ecological and social connections of target species, natural communities, and cultural values to the rest of the landscape are evaluated and maintained for long-term sustainability.

Conservation Impact facilitates the organization through a conservation planning process designed to provide clear goals and strategies for conservation success. The process includes the following steps and can be entered at any point to build on the organization’s progress to date

Assess the need and design a process to develop the conservation plan
Define the organization’s conservation values, targets, and goals
Identify and fill critical knowledge gaps through expert consultation or workshops
Develop criteria for selecting conservation project areas
Identify places on land/water that meet those criteria and prioritize them for action
Develop the conservation plan with strategies to protect priority sites
Develop evaluation criteria to assess overall conservation success and provide feedback
Develop site conservation plans as projects are scheduled for implementation
Develop site-based evaluation criteria to assess project success and provide feedback

Clear organizational conservation goals
Identified conservation areas and conservation strategies to protect them
Site-specific actions plans
Methods for assessing effectiveness of conservation activities
Increased focus of key strategies for public and private protected areas
Increased fundraising, partnership, and organizational development potential based upon a solid conservation plan