There are passionate individuals, communities and organizations all over the world that want to make a big difference for the wildlife of our planet. GWC partners with these individuals and groups to help ensure they have access the resources and expertise they need to most effectively protect wildlife and wildlands.
Conservation success depends on a broad range of people: volunteers and local community members, indigenous people, rangers, other conservation professionals, and scientists. Often, the people who live alongside an area or a species are in the best position to successfully protect and conserve them in the long term.
Along with impassioned individuals, local organizations are indispensable partners for achieving conservation goals. Building their capacity to be local hubs for conservation helps them protect their critical corner of the world and the planet overall.
Our Work
Support Local People
In many locations, indigenous and local people are the strongest conservation leaders. They are on the ground, in the field, aware of the issues, and in the best position to effect change. We work with local groups to assert their rights to manage wild places in a way that integrates their cultural and development needs.
Example: Indio Maíz is in the vanguard of a new global movement of Indigenous and Community Conserved Territories and Areas, which recognizes that conservation works best when it is led by local people who have the necessary support. We worked with the indigenous Rama and afro-descendant Kriol communities to create a visual action plan for the protection and sustainable use of their ancestral lands within Indio Maíz.
Nurture Local Networks
GWC supports local groups in unique positions to bring positive change and works to build in-country job opportunities in conservation. By engaging national-level group, we're ensuring that conservation action does not rely solely on international conservation funding and action.
Example: The Baird’s Tapir is an Endangered species, the largest land mammal of Central and South America. There are estimated to be fewer than 4,500 left in the world. GWC has partnered with multiple organizations to create the Baird’s Tapir Survival Alliance, a broad regional partnership between NGOs, local, and regional authorities that aims to promote sustainable country level conservation programs that mitigate threats to the Baird’s Tapir and boost their chances of survival.
Train Conservation Staff
GWC provides or secures opportunities for its different groups of guardians to receive the training they need to effectively conserve and restore wildlife and wildlands. This includes efforts to improve training for rangers worldwide, training workshops for conservation partners, and training and mentoring the next generation of conservation leaders.
Example: In Nicaragua, we collaborated with the Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University. Our team ran a week-long field course for university students and natural resource professionals focusing on wildlife field techniques and how to apply rigorously collected wildlife data to conservation and management problems.
Individual Mentoring
We support and mentor individuals leading local projects as part of our partnership agreements. Without passionate, dedicated individuals, no progress would be possible. Ensuring that people have the resources, training, and support they need is key to conservation success.
Example: Our program manager for wild cats, Dr. Jim Sanderson, often visits individuals and new projects to help them refine proposals to maximize the opportunity for funding and positive outcomes. His experience in reading proposals and awarding grants gives him insights into successful proposal writing.
Build Capacity with Local Partner Organizations
We help partner organizations expand and improve their operations, where useful and appropriate. We also directly help fund and support organizations through emergencies, including conservation crises and natural disasters.
Example: In 2017, Hurricane Irma devastated the biodiversity-rich Caribbean Islands of Anguilla and Barbuda. GWC gave emergency support to the Anguilla National Trust and the Antigua and Barbuda Environmental Awareness Group to help organizations re-open to lead efforts to restore and protect affected habitats and species, as well as to improve nature’s defenses against future disasters.
Associates Program
Our Associates Program pairs mentors with experienced and emerging conservationists. GWC finds those striving to help the planet through conservation and works to help them increase their impact. Associates benefit by having a formal affiliation with GWC, which helps them raise funds for conservation projects.
Example: Since 2014, Armando Dans has worked with GWC and its partners to conserve the biodiversity of Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast. He is now one of our main partners on the ground in Nicaragua. We aided Armando in his growth into one of Nicaragua’s conservation leaders by sending him to the WildCRU Postgraduate Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation at Oxford University, enabling him to audit courses at Michigan State University, and helping him volunteer on field projects in Mexico’s Lacandon Forest and the Brazilian Pantanal. Armando is the Nicaraguan representative in the Baird’s Tapir Survival Alliance and has participated in a number of their strategic planning workshops.
Partnership with National Geographic and the Smithsonian
We are developing a new partnership on conservation leadership with National Geographic and the Smithsonian Institution. We are developing an innovative global program to build the capacity of the next generation of conservation leaders.
Promote Professionalism
We actively promote improved support, capacity, and recognition for those working on the front lines of conservation. We work with protected area managers and rangers to improve management and wildlife crime prevention.
Women in Nature
The Women in Nature Network is one of GWC's Associate Groups. It is a network of women combining their unique knowledge, skills, and talents to:
- Conserve biodiversity and natural resources around the world
- Train and mentor women to manage and conserve natural resources
- Engage women in managing and conserving natural resources
- Ensure that the best science is the basis for conservation and development
Fiscal Sponsorship
GWC supports conservation guardians around the world through our Fiscal Sponsorship program. This program allows GWC to provide administrative services and oversight to the activities of organizations, groups, and individuals engaged in work that furthers GWC’s conservation mission. We also assume legal and financial responsibility for these activities. GWC can serve as an incubator and accelerator for conservation action around the world; we provide a platform to showcase the latest in conservation strategy and action.
Sponsored projects can focus their energy on developing and delivering conservation outcomes, while GWC efficiently and effectively administers donor funding.
