This page provides access to the documents and information from the workshop presented by Dr. Robert Horwich and Scott Bernstein at the 2006 SCB Conference, San Jose, CA, June 24th, 2006

How to catalyze and carry out successful community conservation projects

Instructors:

Robert Horwich, Community Conservation, 50542 One Quiet Lane, Gays Mills, WI 54631, USA

Scott Bernstein Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies / Community Conservation, 550 N. Park St., 70 Science Hall, Madison, WI 53706, USA

The course includes lectures interspersed with discussion and hands-on activities. First, the course will introduce participants to projects carried out over the past 21 years in nine countries. Second, it will discuss ten phases in catalyzing a community conservation project from initiation to termination of the catalyzing agent's role. Next, a method for project evaluation with 27 benchmarks as important objectives for a successful community conservation project will be discussed. A fourth topic will contrast major differences between small-scale community conservation projects and large integrated conservation and development projects. Contrasting the two will direct participants toward philosophies and concepts that will lead to better probability for success. Examples from Belize, the United States, and India will point out how small projects working at the community level can effect regional change from the bottom up. Finally, the course will discuss types of training needed for community groups to manage their own conservation projects. The course is for an audience with experience or interest in working with community conservation projects who want to make a difference using their conservation biology knowledge as active conservationists. It will provide the rudiments for how to initiate, carry out, monitor, and terminate one's role in a successful community conservation project.