When we set priorities at The Nature Conservancy, we adopt a global perspective, using the best available science to assess where and how to take action to keep ecosystems functioning for the diversity of life they contain -- and for our own well-being.
But ultimately, lasting conservation is local. Global priorities can be accomplished only with the active engagement of those who live and work in these places. Conservation can never be imposed or mandated from the outside; it will always emanate from the hearts and minds of local people.
One of the seven values that guide The Nature Conservancy's work states: "We respect the needs of local communities by developing ways to conserve biological diversity while at the same time enabling humans to live productively and sustainably on the landscape. We know that lasting conservation success requires the active involvement of individuals from diverse backgrounds and beliefs, and we value the unique contributions that each person can make to our cause." Our respect for and commitment to local communities are more than a reflection of our pragmatism; they are the foundation of our hope for the future.
But enunciating such a lofty maxim belies the challenges inherent in realizing it. It can be immensely difficult to find the common ground where divergent perspectives and values can connect.
In the early 1980s I devoted several years of intense effort to dealing with what, at the outset, seemed like an irreconcilable conflict arising from the listing of the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard as a federally endangered species. But we began by listening -- carefully, thoughtfully, respectfully -- to the gamut of stakeholders: scientists, real estate developers, county planners, Indian tribes, environmentalists, water agencies, state and federal officials. And then we initiated a process to engage all of these interests. In the end, after arduous and protracted efforts by all, we crafted something that became known as the Coachella Solution.
The coming together of such disparate parties has also been the essential ingredient in the effort to conserve Montana's Blackfoot River Valley. In the 1.5-million-acre watershed immortalized in the novel A River Runs Through It, hundreds of partners have joined forces to keep their beloved landscape intact -- for their livelihoods, for recreational and aesthetic values, and for grizzlies and other wildlife that share the ecosystem. The bottom-up approach of landowners joining forces with government agencies, private industry and groups like The Nature Conservancy has been described as "an experiment in natural-resource democracy."
But listening to and building trust among people with conflicting but overlapping interests take time. Given the urgency that conservationists often feel, the natural impulse is to want to act quickly. It has been a hard-earned lesson that long-term conservation success requires long-term community investment. In conservation, as in life, patience is a virtue.
It is also a universal truth. As a prelude to conservation action, community engagement often requires a "long period of courtship," as one of our Brazilian biologists astutely observes (The Nature of Marcio Sztutman). To build trust with Amazonian tribes, "you have to know how to listen instead of talking," he advises. And sometimes the listening has a visual component as well -- as in China, where we are earning the trust of Yunnan Province villagers and learning about their relation to the environment by equipping them with cameras to capture and communicate what is important to them (Photovoice).
As I've witnessed The Nature Conservancy's evolution over my 28-year career here, I am perhaps most proud of how we have discovered and refined universal processes for achieving our mission. Fundamental principles that worked in the Coachella Valley are at play in all our landscape-scale projects. Guiding our work are both our principles of conservation planning and our values, including our commitment to people. Our approach is not formulaic; instead, it's an adaptable framework for creating workable solutions in which natural landscapes remain intact, wildlife thrives and dreams can come within reach.
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Comments: 1
It was interesting that you wrote of the following interests
scientists
real estate developers
county planners
Indian tribes
environmentalists
water agencies
state and federal officials
as "conflicting but overlapping". That must be key to your success! Having the mindset that these groups don't have to be competing interests and finding the common goals (and concessions, of course) must have terrific results.