Conservation Standards Effectiveness & Impact
Does the use of the Conservation Standards (CS)- an adaptive management framework- lead to more efficient, effective, and impactful conservation projects? The purpose of this workbook and protocol is to help conservation practitioners answer this question. Since its inception, the Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP) has looked for ways to understand and measure how well its own members adopt, adapt and implement the Conservation Standards, and thus built an audit tool and encouraged auditing. However, CMP and its partner the Conservation Coaches Network (CCNet) recognize there are still many advances to be made in understanding how useful and effective the CS is. That is why we are focused on this question and why we are proposing ‘softly guided’ ways for projects and organizations to respond.
About us
In 2021, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation provided the Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP) with support for the Conservation Standards Effectiveness & Impact (CSEI) Learning Initiative, which aimed to investigate what evidence there is that applying an adaptive management framework (such as the Conservation Standards) leads to improved project effectiveness, efficiency and impact. In its second year, the CSEI Learning Initiative continues to bring together a group committed to developing and sharing monitoring, evaluation and learning processes and tools to support the collection of evidence relating to indicators of effectiveness.
Purpose
To provide a user friendly workbook and monitoring protocol for standardized data collection that CMP organizations and other teams can use to measure the effectiveness of projects that apply the Conservation Standards, and to embed these monitoring and assessment practices into organizational systems and processes.
Theory of change
Evaluation of conservation adaptive management frameworks such as the Conservation Standards is methodologically and conceptually challenging, as effectiveness can be defined in many ways. To address this challenge, we identified specific outcomes, or results, that we expect projects to achieve following the adoption of an adaptive management framework, and laid these out in a detailed theory of change. In doing this, the effectiveness of the adaptive management framework can be assessed using a results or outcomes-based approach. While we have produced a detailed theory of change between implementing the CS and delivering outcomes and impact, a simplified version is easier to follow as it breaks down the logical flow into six main result areas. The theory of change describes, and lays out assumptions about, how the adoption of an adaptive conservation management approach is likely to lead to improved project effectiveness and impact. It is a useful and necessary tool for unpacking the expected results so that each one can be assessed for its own effectiveness.
Contents
Theory of change and framework for measuring adoption and efficacy of applying the CS
Suggested priority indicators, methods and tools that teams can use to monitor changes in results along the theory of change
Each tool and method(s) has been documented and described for ease of use by project teams.
Draft monitoring protocol for standardized data collection.
Links to an evidence library and other useful resources.
Adapting to organization specific needs
This CMP product has been developed and shared as an 'Open Source' product under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This material can thus be shared, repurposed, remixed and modified as needed, provided that you provide attribution to CMP as the source product and release any derivative products with a similar open source license.
Other useful resources
Acknowledgements
This workbook was developed by the Conservation Standards Effectiveness & Impact Learning Initiative (2022). A special thank you to all contributors:
Sheila O'Connor (Independent)
Claire Relton (Endangered Wildlife Trust)
José Antonio Díaz Luque (Fundación para la Conservación de los Loros en Bolivia)
Charles Latrémouille (Independent)
Erica Cochrane (International Crane Foundation)
Vance Russell (Independent)
Maria Elena Molina
Sarah (Weber) Hertel (Independent)
Brenda Van Sleeuwen (Parks Canada)
Emily Gonzales (Parks Canada)
Léna Plaud (Odd Industries)
Haojin Tan (The Nature Conservancy)
Mike Mikov (Independent)
Eleanor Carswell (Bush Heritage)
John Morrison (WWF / CCNet)
Beihua Page (Puget Sound Partnership)
Philippa Dyson (TRAFFIC)
Ryan Mitchell (CMP)
Sam Cheng (WWF)
Caroline Lees (IUCN)
Sarah Cotter (Parks Canada)
Stephan Funk (Odd Industries)