Building Capacity and Capability Across the Conservation Sector
Through Conservation Leaders, we supported conservation projects to achieve greater social and environmental impacts.
June 2024 Update
The Conservation Leaders programme has now closed. Thank you to everyone for your interest.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is building the capacity and capability of Aotearoa New Zealand’s conservation and natural resource management leaders to build a future where both people and nature thrive. Through our Conservation Leaders training programme, run between 2021 and 2024, participants learned how to apply the Conservation Standards and drive greater social and environmental impacts at scale.
Background
Around the world, the conservation community is tackling large, complex and urgent environmental challenges with high stakes. In many places, people running the world’s most critical conservation and sustainable development projects rely on their own skills and resources. However, without more rigorous measurement of their effectiveness, we cannot show that we are achieving the results we seek.
Aotearoa New Zealand has a proud history of conservation achievements, including bringing several species back from the brink of extinction. The country is full of passionate individuals and dedicated community groups keen to make a difference, often within their immediate natural environment. To accelerate this impact, TNC set out to give individuals and organizations additional skills and expertise to work on large-scale and complex conservation initiatives.
Conservation Leaders
The Conservation Leaders Programme was initiated to develop Conservation Action Planning (CAP) capability in Aotearoa New Zealand to address the capability gap in strategy and planning.
We trained nearly 100 conservation leaders across the country, mostly from iwi-led and community projects, in the use of Conservation Standards (CS), also known as the Conservation by Design (CbD) and Healthy Country Planning (HCP) approach. The training was designed to equip participants from conservation groups and leaders with the tools to deliver landscape-scale projects that achieve impacts at a level that benefits whole ecosystems and empowers others to lead similar projects.
TNC-supported and led training courses were held in May and November 2022, and May 2024, with expert coaches, Stuart Cowell and Philippa Walsh.
Participant Stories
Otago Regional Council
The Otago Regional Council says Conservation Standards have proved a valuable aid in developing Catchment Action Plans (CAPs) to manage natural resources within broad catchments.
Kawatiri Nature Environment & Communities Trust
Learning about how to plan restoration projects through Conservation by Design has given the Kawatiri Nature Environment & Communities Trust confidence they are on the right path.
Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance
The Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance has already put this training into practice for their Restoration by Design process, enabling them to develop their recent implementation plan.
Introductory Webinar
Programme manager Hao Jin Tan hosted an introductory webinar in December 2023 attended by 64 participants. This video contains the key presentations from the session.
Download the presentations:
- Philippa Walsh—The open standards for the practice of conservation
- Stuart Cowell—Target Viability (Health)
- Download the self-assessment tool
The Conservation Standards Approach
The CS approach has been widely used around the world and has adapted well to the needs of working with Indigenous peoples on conservation projects.
We will continue to promote and apply the framework through the projects we are involved with and support—with the aim of adding more tools to the kete of the conservation community.
A community of practice has been set up for New Zealand practitioners where you can connect with other practitioners, share experiences, get support and learn new things. To join, visit CCNet Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand.
We Can’t Save Nature Without You
Sign up to receive regular updates from The Nature Conservancy.
You May Also Like
Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance Feature on BBC Earth's Our Frozen Planet
The work of the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance to restore nature in the top of the South Island is garnering international attention, with the recent release of a short film on BBC Earth.
Land for Life: Supporting farmers while addressing environmental challenges in Hawke’s Bay
Hawke’s Bay is a key agricultural hub in New Zealand. But tough environmental challenges threaten the way of life for farmers and nature.
Coastal Wetland Blue Carbon in Aotearoa New Zealand
Researchers, practitioners, resource managers & mana whenua participated in a series of hui in 2023 to share knowledge about current coastal wetland blue carbon projects & aspirations for the future.