Parks Canada Conservation Standards Modules

Parks Canada developed these modules to provide staff accessible, self-paced training materials for Steps 1 (Assess) and 2 (Plan) of the Conservation Standards, as well as a set of reference materials. The training modules are tailored to a Canadian context and incorporate some elements of Healthy Country Planning. There are 9 modules in total. Module 0 provides an overview of all 5 steps of the process. Modules 1-7 cover each sub-step in Steps 1 and 2. Module 8 provides an overview of Steps 3-5. Module 10 is a training module on assessing existing evidence within the Conservation Standards. Modules and associated…

Science-Based Targets for Nature Case Study (2021)

The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) is an organization focused on better enabling businesses and cities to use science-based targets to address climate change and nature loss. In 2021, with funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP) and SBTN started a project aimed at aligning and building off of each other’s efforts in order to magnify the collective impact of their work. To learn more, check out this mini webinar and the report for the project’s first year (below): These resources can also be found on the project’s page in the CMP workspace. Full citation Webinar: Latrémouille, C….

Does External Financing Influence National Commitments to Biodiversity Conservation? (2020)

The conservation community has committed technical and financial assistance to low- and middle-income country (LMIC) governments to support the management costs associated with protected areas (PAs) as a means of conserving high biodiversity areas over the last few decades. Given other priorities, LMIC generally tend to have little capacity and weak governance for PAs, making external support imperative for conservation. In the past, funds provided to PAs have failed to provide long-term sustainable conservation outcomes, due to a focus on short-term finance for capital investment, with limited support for sustaining PA structures and institutions. Consequently, the conservation community has been…

Conservation Standards Adoption – A Change Management Strategy (2021)

An expected result of CMP’s 2017-22 Strategic plan is that “Key Organizations Try & Adopt good conservation practices”, which involves having key individuals successfully pilot the Conservation Standards (CS) within their organizations. There is however no readily available guidance on how to conduct such a pilot and how to follow it through to successful organization-wide adoption of the CS. This initiative aims to provide key individuals tasked with piloting the CS with guidance and a Theory of Change (TOC) that they can use as a road map to plan and implement the adoption of the CS within their organization. Material…

Conservation Standards Effectiveness and Impact Learning Initiative (2021)

Although there is a broad assumption that using an adaptive management framework in conservation  leads to improved conservation efficiency, effectiveness, and impact, there is little robust and  consolidated evidence supporting this hypothesis. The Conservation Standards Effectiveness & Impact  Learning Initiative aimed to investigate what evidence exists to verify that increased adoption of “good”  conservation practice leads to more successful conservation projects. We developed a theory of change  documenting the intermediate results we were expecting to be achieved following the successful adoption of an adaptive management framework. Data collected in an…

Climate-Smart Conservation Practice Case Studies (2021)

Over the last few years, as the CMP Climate Guidance Working Group has developed Climate-Smart Conservation Practice, a few organizations in the Conservation Standards community have applied different parts of the guidance. Several organizations have experimented with different approaches to incorporating climate change into their situation models and using these models to brainstorm climate adaptation strategies. A few have tried to conduct climate scenario planning. The Climate Guidance Working Group has spent some time learning from their experiences through case studies development and learning group sessions. Here are the products that came from this initiative : Case Study 1 :…

MPA Network Design and Management: Framework and Guidance (2021)

The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management and FOS Europe have developed a framework and a 10-step method for tackling the big challenges in marine conservation. The framework contains ​definitions, guiding principles, and a methodology for design and management of networks of marine protected areas. Together with the step-by-step guidance, it helps to systematically reason through how much of what to protect, and how to protect it, in order to achieve the desired results within MPA networks. It provides tools for setting objectives for threat reduction based on the sensitivity of the targets to different threats, as well as for…