Aligning the Conservation Standards and Market Systems Development frameworks 

This project is a joint initiative between the Conservation Standards (CS) community and the Market Systems Development (MSD) community.

• Market Systems Development (MSD) is an approach used within the international aid / development communities to plan and implement projects which are generally aimed at improving livelihoods and alleviating poverty.  Sometimes these projects can impact on biodiversity.

• Conservation Standards is an approach for planning and implementing projects aimed at protecting biodiversity and human well-being. Often the threats impacting on biodiversity are driven by economic factors, and these market forces need to be considered if strategies are to be successful.

Our joint working group has developed some initial guidelines to help practitioners in both communities bring the experiences and techniques of both perspectives into their work. 

If you are interested in this type of work, please get in touch with the initiative co-ordinator - annette.stewart@bushheritage.org.au

Guidance for Conservation Practitioners

The details below take the "Green MSD" guidance, which is targeting a general conservation community, and tailors it to the specific approaches used in the Conservation Standards community.

You need to care about markets!

Most conservation projects are trying to manage specific threats to the biodiversity and human well-being values that the project team cares about.  Many of these threats originate from markets, and consequently efforts to reduce the threat need to intervene in the root-causes of the threat if it is to be minimised over the longer term.

Green MSD steps tailored for Conservation Standards Practitioners

Many of the key tools and techniques described in the Green Market Systems Development v1 guidance are relevant for conservation projects that are following the Conservation Standards.  The details below identify the key components, and the examples that follow illustrate application of the guidance through several case-studies.  As you reference the Green MSD guidance document, note some differences in terminology which are outlined on page 22; many pages also include a box labelled "For Conservation Standards users" to help clarify the key differences.

We are currently working on further guidance to help CS practitioners use and adapt these tools and techniques; the details below will be updated as this work progresses.  

Where does this fit in to the Conservation Standards?

As illustrated in the images above and below, the market analysis steps are best conducted during the Conservation Standards Assess phase, particularly Step 1c Identify Critical Threats.  Once your project team has identified the key threats impacting on your focal values, pause and "step outside the CS process" to identify the markets that underly these threats.  There are likely to be several, so prioritization is critical.  Information generated through the steps below will provide details for your Situation Model, so at a relevant point in your team's discussions, "step back into the CS process" to complete Step 1d Assess the Conservation Situation.  Depending on the complexity of your project, and its associated markets, there may be some iteration back and forth as you do further analysis.

If your team does not have experience in markets analysis you may wish to obtain support from an experienced conservation coach or MSD practitioner to help you work through these steps.  

1. Market System Prioritization

To use resources efficiently and make the project more manageable, narrow the focus to one or more markets.

In "Step 1c Identify Critical Threats" the Conservation Standards suggests several methods for prioritizing the direct threats to your project's focal values.  Additionally, the Standards encourage you to "identify the actors behind those threats", and "not limit your analysis to the threats your team or organization has the expertise or resources to anticipate and address".  This analysis and prioritization is likely to identify several markets that underly one or more of your most critical threats.

The Green MSD guidance provides three criteria for prioritizing these markets - relevance to project goals, economic outlook, and feasibility of intervention (see page 28).   This method is seen as a reasonable compromise between overly simple methods and much more complex methods that involve weighting against multiple criteria. 

With support from experienced coaches or MSD practitioners, this prioritization should be within the capabilities of most project teams, and will provide useful input to a final prioritization of direct threats that needs to consider factors other than markets.   

References

• see pages 29-35 of the Green MSD guidance for examples of this prioritization applied to the examples of Honey, Coffee and Energy

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2. Market system mapping 

Identify the main actors in the market system, as well as the supporting rules, functions, and environmental conditions. Identify the main people, climate, and nature effects of the market.

The Conservation Standards do not explicitly cover the technique of market mapping.  The Green MSD guidance provides a worked example of a market mapping exercise - see pages 36-43.

References

• see pages 61 of the Green MSD guidance for an illustration of market mapping for the Honey example

• see pages 70 of the Green MSD guidance for an illustration of market mapping for the Coffee example

• see pages 81 of the Green MSD guidance for an illustration of market mapping for the Energy example

• additional examples and resources for market mapping are available here - Beam Exchange - market mapping

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3. Market system analysis

Develop a robust understanding of how the system works, including the incentives and capacity of key actors, the trends and dynamics of the system, and how the market currently affects your goals.

The Conservation Standards do not explicitly cover the technique of market systems analysis.  The Green MSD guidance offers a series of prompting questions to help your team identify how the current market system works (page 44).

References

• see pages 62 of the Green MSD guidance for an illustration of the market analysis for the Honey example

• see pages 71 of the Green MSD guidance for an illustration of the market analysis for the Coffee example

• see pages 82 of the Green MSD guidance for an illustration of the market analysis for the Energy example

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4. Identify systemic constraints

A market systems approach relies on targeting root causes - rather than symptoms – of market failure. Identifying systemic constraints informs targeted intervention design that can leverage lasting change in the way that markets work.

The market system analysis completed above will help to identify the systemic constraints or root causes of market failure which are leading to the direct threats impacting on your focal values.  The Green MSD guidance provides an example of this root-cause analysis (see page 45).  Understanding these systemic constraints helps to identify the potential intervention points that you could use to sustainably address the root-causes of your critical threats. 

This information provides input to the Conservation Standards "Step 1d Assess the Conservation Situation", which encourages you to produce a situation model showing your project's focal values, the key threats to those values, the cause-and-effect factors leading to those threats and the key actors involved.  "By understanding the context, behaviours, and key actors, you will be better equipped for designing actions that will achieve your conservation goals and objectives." This information leads on to the Planning step where you design your actions.

References

• see pages 63 of the Green MSD guidance for an illustration of the systemic constraints for the Honey example

• see pages 72 of the Green MSD guidance for an illustration of the systemic constraints for the Coffee example

• see pages 83 of the Green MSD guidance for an illustration of the systemic constraints for the Energy example

• Additional resources on identifying systemic constraints can be found here - BEAM Exchange - root cause analysis.

Conservation Standards Step 2 - Plan

The markets information gathered through the above steps feeds into the develop of actions, as outlined in Step 2 of the Conservation Standards.  

The Green MSD guidance provides additional pointers for leveraging this information to design effective and sustainable interventions in markets - see pages 47-53.

References

• see pages 64-67 of the Green MSD guidance for intervention design and theory of change for the Honey example

• see pages 73-77 of the Green MSD guidance for intervention design and theory of change for the Coffee example

• see pages 84-89 of the Green MSD guidance for intervention design and theory of change for the Energy example

Examples of Market-based interventions

The Green MSD guidance includes three illustrative case-studies of increasing complexity to show how the Green MSD framework can be applied (see illustration below).  These case studies are - 

1. Honey - a small-scale / short-term conservation project seeking to promote sustainable livelihoods in local communities (see page 59+).

2. Coffee - a conventional MSD project working on national coffee sector development with a substantial budget (page 68+). 

3. Energy - illustrating a design of complex long-term strategies with integrated people, climate, and nature goals (page 78+)

We are expanding on these examples to demonstrate guidance tailored for the CS community.  See this page - Markets Examples - for details. 

General References

The Beam Exchange is the key repository of information for practitioners in the MSD community and offers a comprehensive set of resources and guidance.  To find materials for your area of interest, browse through their Guidance section which includes links to specific tools, or use the site's search function.

Generic Results Chains (Miradi Share) are available in the CAML library under the Standard Action Code of "Linked Enterprises and Alternative Livelihoods".  Once completed, the "Examples of Market-based interventions" referenced above will produce new and revised results chains for submission to CAML. 

Identifying and working with Lead Firms - this document offers guidance on how to identify the key actors within a market and, using a systemic approach, work with them to develop and implement market-based strategies

The Push-Pull Approach - explores contexts where the most appropriate strategy might combine elements of a direct delivery strategy to support engagement of households with a systemic strategy to build capacity in markets.

Conservation Enterprises 20-year review - this document analyses results of a wide range of Conservation Enterprise strategies that set out to leverage market forces to develop local enterprises.  The lessons learnt from these experiences can inform development of future strategies. 

Related CS Initiatives

Several prior and current initiatives have touched on the impact of markets in conservation.  For example, see workspaces for - 

• Nature-based Solutions 

• Human well-being

• Climate Change adaptation