Lessons on Community Enterprise Interventions for Landscape/Seascape Level Conservation: Seven Case Studies from the Global Conservation Program

Key points in document

• This report synthesizes findings from the Global Conservation Program, which included seven different landscape or seascape projects implemented by six NGOs in eight countries.
• Three learning themes were addressed in the review of the seven case studies: (1) How has using a threats-based approach influenced engagement with community enterprise interventions? (2) How has the shift in scale to landscape/seascape level conservation influenced choices in enterprise development? (3) How has the Global Conservation Program leveraged partnerships and cross-sectoral relationships to achieve livelihood/economic outcomes that support conservation at a landscape/seascape level?
• The report provides lessons on building the following enabling conditions: diversification of livelihoods, equitable benefit sharing, established resource rights, supportive policies and legal frameworks, and both local and national business alliances and partnerships.
• The report provides detailed examples drawn from the diverse set of case studies of the lessons learned around each of these enabling conditions.
• This review was developed by USAID’s Sustainable Coastal Communities and Ecosystems (SUCCESS) project, implemented between 2004 and 2008.

Information relevant to Learning Questions:

Are enabling conditions in place to support a sustainable enterprise?

• Stakeholder alignment, diversification
• Market demand, profit potential, access to credit/capital
• Ownership, governance
• Government requirements, policies for enterprises, business alliances
• Financial management capacity, technical capacity
• Equipment, infrastructure
• Benefit sharing, targeted participants, combined strategic approaches, biodiversity linkage, policies for and enforcement of resource use, planning for external disturbance

Does the enterprise lead to benefits to stakeholders?

• Increased income for participants

Do the benefits lead to positive changes in attitudes and behavior?

• Attitudes regarding sustainable use of resources
• Behaviors regarding sustainable use of resources

Does a change in stakeholders’ behaviors lead to a reduction to threats to biodiversity (or restoration)?

• Agriculture and aquaculture
• Energy production and mining
• Biological resource use
• Human intrusions and disturbance
• Climate change and severe weather

Does a reduction in threats (or restoration) lead to conservation?

• Forest ecosystems
• Freshwater ecosystems
• Grassland ecosystems
• Marine ecosystems
• Species