OUR
APPROACH
We have developed an award-winning model, implemented in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve in Mongolia, to approach conservation problems that arise at the human-animal-nature interface. The four components of this model approach to holistic, interdisciplinary programming include (see figure):
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Rigorous, interdisciplinary science (both social and biological). Any effective conservation program begins with a strong foundation in research to fully understand the problem and context within which that problem is embedded. We strive to develop integrated, truly interdisciplinary work in the social and biological sciences even as much of research occurs within a single discipline.
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Community Engagement, including livelihood enhancement. Successful conservation requires the support of the local people. Our work includes conservation education and outreach programs that actively engage people in a strategic effort to build support and alter behaviors that affect our conservation efforts. Part of this effort revolves around improving local livelihoods in ways that directly link to conservation programs.
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Conservation Management and Policy. We strive for lasting conservation impact. Ensuring effectiveness requires improving conservation management activities and influencing conservation policy at local, national, and international levels. We do this by working collaboratively with formal (e.g., government agencies) and informal (e.g., community groups) organizations.
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Capacity building at all levels. The best conservation emanates from within the local community. Our philosophy involves helping to train, educate, and equip local people, as they are in the best position to fuse local cultures with state-of-the-art conservation approaches. Capacity development helps build long-term, lasting conservation impact and underlies all we do. Our capacity building work includes formal education programs (including undergraduate and graduate students), informal education (i.e., working closely with colleagues to transfer skills and knowledge), professional development, and working to empower local women.
CONSERVATION
Statement of Purpose
Environmental Analysis and Position/Problem Statement: Managing relationships between human, non-human animals, and the natural environment is often tumultuous and crucial to the survival of global diversity. Global biological diversity and human living conditions continue to decline at accelerating rates, despite significant effort to stem loss. Current conservation sociological and ecological models will likely fail to reverse these trends. We desperately need new, effective approaches.
Approaches to conservation have traditionally operated within largely separate disciplines, with, at best, multi-disciplinary (parallel, but separate), as opposed to interdisciplinary (integrated and collaborative) programs. Such traditional programs usually preclude dramatic, innovative, and risk-embracing approaches and are bound by a relatively narrow focus. As the biodiversity crisis continues to worsen and climate change exacerbates the conservation challenge, we must be willing to try new, interdisciplinary methods even if the chances of failure also increase. Yet, the problems that arise due to human-animal, human-nature, and human-human interactions lie at the heart of conservation problems and tend to be time urgent and complex, requiring rapid, innovative, and efficient responses.
We advocate a model approach that addresses these socioeconomic, political, and biological issues which will allow our organization to nimbly respond to any crises, while building capacity for a new generation of effective conservationists, thus creating a more sustainable future, both locally and globally.
Mission: Protect global biological diversity by employing innovative, efficient models for holistic conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitat.
Vision: The Coalition for International Conservation (CIC) will help stem the loss of biodiversity by being a respected leader in developing innovative, holistic conservation models that can be easily disseminated and adapted to other problems, thus increasing our impact. We envision creating a lean, effective organization willing to employ novel approaches to biodiversity conservation.
Statement of Strategic Position: With shared experience working in the international conservation field for over 40 years, we understand how to address both environmental and community needs in various countries and ecosystems, including those in Mongolia, China, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Kenya, Botswana, Bolivia, Mexico, Peru, Estonia, Russia, Australia, the United States, and several other areas.