Approach To Conservation
The foundation of CI's work is "science, partnership, and field demonstration." The organization has scientists, policy workers, and other conservationists on the ground in more than two dozen countries on five continents. It also relies heavily on hundreds of local partners.
The stated aim of CI’s field work is to find local successes that benefit both people and nature. For example, the creation of "no-take zones" for fish might have a short-term deleterious impact on fishermen; but ultimately, they increase fish populations, helping both marine ecosystems and the local economy.
CI hopes to replicate these successes on a larger scale — thus its work with governments, universities, NGOs and the private sector. By showing how conservation can work at all scales, CI aims to make the protection of nature a key consideration in economic development decisions around the world.
For example, CI supported 15 national governments in the formation of the Pacific Oceanscape, a management plan for the conservation of 24 million square miles of sea from Hawaii to New Zealand. In addition to the sustainable management of ocean resources, the agreement includes the world's largest marine protected areas and sanctuaries for whales, dolphins, turtles and sharks.
The organization has been active in United Nations discussions on issues such as climate change and biodiversity, and its scientists present at international conferences and workshops. Its United States policy work currently highlights "a direct connection between international conservation and America's economic and national security interests."
A few years after its founding, CI started working with McDonald’s to implement sustainable agriculture and conservation projects in Central America. The organization expanded its commitment to working with the business sector in 2000, when it created the Center for Environmental Leadership in Business with support from the Ford Motor Company.
Read more about this topic: Conservation International
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