Conservation Success Case Studies

🇨🇴 As Colombia prepares for the COP16 UN biodiversity conference in less than 100 days, the nation has achieved an extraordinary milestone, recording its lowest deforestation rate in 23 years. 🌳 In 2023, deforestation dropped by 36%, with just 79,256 hectares deforested compared to 123,517 hectares in 2022. 📉 3 Key Factors Behind the Success: 1. Government Action: President Gustavo Petro’s policies focus on limiting agribusiness expansion and promoting sustainable practices among indigenous communities. His administration has also strengthened environmental enforcement, increased funding for conservation, and advocated for debt-for-nature swaps, calling on wealthy nations to cancel foreign debt in exchange for conservation commitments. 2. Conservation Programs: Initiatives like “Conservar Paga” have incentivised local communities to protect forests, tripling rewards for conservation efforts. These programs have empowered local leaders and provided economic alternatives to deforestation. 3. Community Engagement: Collaboration with indigenous and rural communities has been important. Training and resources have been provided to help these communities manage and protect their lands sustainably. Peace talks with armed groups have contributed to reduced deforestation, as some groups have issued orders forbidding deforestation in certain areas. Despite these gains, challenges remain. Illegal mining, logging and El Niño weather events continue to threaten forest conservation. ⛈️ But despite ongoing challenges, Colombia’s results shows us how integrated policies and community engagement can drive significant environmental progress and will hopefully inspire other countries to follow replicate their success. 🌎 #Colombia #Deforestation #COP16

The importance of success stories in conservation Ahead of IUCN’s World Conservation Congress, this revisits and extends my Sept conservation optimism piece. The parrot should have been a footnote. In the ‘90s New Zealand’s kākāpō, a rotund, nocturnal bird that freezes at danger and nests on the ground, was down to 51 individuals. Conservationists responded with near monastic discipline: every adult fitted with a transmitter, breeding nudged along with targeted feeding and, when needed, assisted breeding. It is still fragile work, yet the population has climbed 5x, most on predator-free islands, with cautious steps back to the mainland. The kākāpō cannot fly, but extinction is no longer its only trajectory. That story is not a plea for complacency; it is a case for optimism as a working method. Conservation faces long odds and short attention spans. Optimism, properly understood, is not happy talk. It is the choice to assume action can change outcomes, then to organize money, data, and persistence accordingly. Examples show that rebound is possible. In Borneo, discounted health care offered to villages that pledged to halt illegal logging reduced deforestation & improved livelihoods. In Raja Ampat, manta ray populations rebounded under a network of protections, defended even during a tourism collapse. Guam kingfishers have laid their first eggs on Palmyra Atoll in nearly 40 years. The political economy of degradation has also shifted. Much deforestation today is driven by commodities that can be monitored, pressured, and re-engineered. Campaigns targeting consumer brands helped drive corporate commitments and new policies. Results are uneven, but real: forest loss from palm oil has plunged in Asia since the early 2010s, while soy-linked clearing in Brazil has also fallen. Transparency sustains momentum. Remote sensing makes it harder to hide ecological harm and easier to document success. Brazil’s monitoring regime cut deforestation 60%, proof that timely data, backed by enforcement, alters behavior. Now platforms like Global Forest Watch put analysis within reach of anyone. The conservation coalition is also broader. Indigenous peoples & local communities steward much of the world’s intact forests. Where rights are strong, deforestation drops and recovery rises. Recognition of their role has moved from footnote to foundation in both policy and philanthropy. Optimism here is not mood but method—logistics, partnership, patience. It keeps hands steady, strategies disciplined, and coalitions intact. It does not deny the onslaught of heat waves, bleaching reefs, or shrinking budgets. It insists that today’s trend need not dictate tomorrow’s destiny. The facts are simple: an awkward parrot can rebound and forests can recover. The future will not be won by despair or wishful thinking. It will be built, one verified improvement at a time, by those who choose to believe change is possible—and then do the work to prove it.

Conservation isn’t new. Afro-descendant communities have been doing it for generations. A new study led by Conservation International’s Martha C. Rosero-Peña and Sushma Shrestha offers compelling, peer-reviewed evidence of just how critical that stewardship has been. The study analyzed recognized Afro-descendant lands in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Suriname, combining spatial, historical, and statistical data for the first time. The findings are remarkable: • More than 56% of Afro-descendant lands are among the top 5% most biodiverse areas on Earth. • In Ecuador, that number jumps to 99%. • These territories store over 486 million tonnes of irrecoverable carbon — the kind we can’t afford to lose. And deforestation rates? As much as 55% lower than surrounding areas. This underscores what many communities have known all along: that food forests, sustainable use, and coexistence with nature are not new ideas. They are ancestral wisdom. That’s why Conservation International works with Indigenous and local peoples. They’ve been protecting nature for generations, and the world is finally listening. https://lnkd.in/eQUsgrJi

Why are Namibia’s conservancies so successful? 🐘 For more than a century, "fortress conservation", which excludes people to create protected areas like national parks, has been the conventional conservation model. Initially implemented by colonial powers to establish ‘game parks’ for hunting, this approach reinforces a Western notion of nature as something separate from people, disregarding land stewardship practices of local communities. Globally, the creation of such parks has displaced an estimated 20 million people from their ancestral lands. This displacement constitutes a violation of human rights. It marginalises local knowledge and participation, exacerbating human-wildlife conflict as displaced communities — disconnected from their land — turn to harmful practices like poaching to survive. In contrast, Namibia’s conservancies offer a powerful, people-centered alternative. Since the 1990s, this innovative model has transformed conservation by putting the power back into the hands of local communities. Today, 86 conservancies cover a fifth of the country, demonstrating that when people are empowered as stewards of their own lands, conservation and community prosperity go hand in hand. And it’s working: often more wildlife is found on community lands than in national parks. But conservancies are more about protecting wildlife. Conservancies create employment and give people a direct stake in the well-being of their landscapes, ensuring they have the incentives and resources to protect and restore biodiversity. According to recent research, the success of Namibia’s conservancies is down to several key factors: 🤝 Legal framework and robust governance: The conservancy model is integrated into national policy and legislation, this requires a committee and a formal constitution. 🦒 Employment of wildlife rangers: Locally employed rangers play an important role in encouraging local participation in wildlife protection and mediating human-wildlife conflict. 🔄 Revenue reinvestment: Communities report that benefits like meat handouts after trophy hunting, fuel for diesel pumps, and investment into infrastructure are a major reason for shifting community attitude to wildlife. 🐘 Long-term wildlife monitoring: Local accountability for wildlife conservation has contributed to community pride around the success of the conservancy model as monitoring shows that wildlife populations have recovered and stabilised. The conservancy model shows that when communities are active participants in their landscapes rather than excluded from them, we can develop models for coexisting with the wider, wilder world. I hope this approach continues to inspire conservation across Africa and beyond, demonstrating that people and nature can thrive together, sharing the landscapes they live in. Link to the research paper 👉 https://buff.ly/3QueV5f Image: A Maasai man in the Nashulai conservancy by Nicolo Lanfranchi

This lady built one of the world's largest conservation projects 🦌 (And saved a species from extinction) The Golden Steppe is a critical landscape: ↳ Vast temperate grassland stretching 805,500 km² in Kazakhstan ↳ Acts as a massive carbon sink, sequestering millions of tons of CO2 ↳ Home to 2,000+ plant species, many found nowhere else But the ecosystem faced serious challenges: ↳ Nearly 50% degraded from overgrazing ↳ Development pressure from agriculture and industry ↳ Disease outbreaks wiped out 60% of the Saiga antelope population The saiga antelope, once abundant, was pushed to the brink of extinction. Just 20,000 remained from millions. Instead of accepting this tragic fate... Vera Voronova led the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative to change things. Here's how their revolutionary approach worked: a) Use telemetry devices to track 250 nomadic antelopes b) Identify and protect critical feeding and breeding areas c) Community education programs in 120+ schools to support protection The results speak for themselves ↳ Increased population by 140x in just two decades ↳ Created 5 new protected areas covering 3.1 million hectares ↳ Won the 2024 Earthshot Prize By 2030, they aim to: ↳ Reaching 4 million saiga by 2030 ↳ Employing 725 full-time conservationists ↳ Expand to Mongolia, Argentina, and India From a catastrophic wildlife collapse... ...to one of conservation's greatest comeback stories. Sometimes the most ambitious projects emerge from challenging moments 📥 Like this post? Follow me for daily insights on NatureTech and Nature Finance

Within the corporate biodiversity space the realities of impact are often overlooked. New tools, credits, frameworks, money etc dominate the narrative, often without any real tangible link to the outcomes that nature conservation organisations and society are striving for. This week we saw a huge piece of conservation impact; the saiga (a funny looking antelope that roams the Eurasian steppe) was downgraded by the IUCN Red List from Critically Endangered to Near Threatened (skipping out two extincition risk classifications!). How long did it take? 20 years. How did it happen? Hard work and determination. The interesting thing from E.J. Milner-Gulland's piece here on the Conservation Optimism website is that a major driver of this success is coalition building - bringing strategic partners together, formulating a plan and executing it. If businesses truly want to play a part in restoring nature then they must realise it takes time and patience and involves a high level of collaboration. It's not all about credits or metrics. The cool thing is I know business can get this and if they join in could add a huge amount beyond just resource to aid nature recovery. If we can think about the longer term and the bigger picture who knows what could be unlocked #naturepositive #sustainabledevelopment #sustainabilitystrategy https://lnkd.in/gpU52mRX

There has been a lot of focus on the IUCN red list - encouraging actions to restore, conserve species that are endangered - whilst this should and must be priority let’s also Focus on existing efforts under the Green List! Recognising Conservation Excellence: Saudi Arabia and UAE on the IUCN Green List As the global community accelerates action under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are demonstrating strong regional leadership in conservation through their commitment to the IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas. What is the IUCN Green List? The IUCN Green List celebrates areas where people and nature thrive together. It identifies protected and conserved sites that meet global standards of: ✅ Good governance ✅ Sound design and planning ✅ Effective management ✅ Positive and measurable conservation outcomes While the IUCN Red List highlights species at risk, the Green List shines a light on success stories — where ecosystems are being restored, biodiversity is recovering, and communities are engaged as stewards of nature. 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia’s IUCN Green List Sites Saudi Arabia has emerged as a regional conservation leader with several areas achieving Green List recognition: Uruq Bani Ma’arid – A UNESCO World Heritage Site safeguarding Arabian oryx, sand gazelles, and rare desert flora. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Royal Nature Reserve – One of the largest in the Middle East, protecting vast desert and mountainous habitats. Ibex Protected Area – The first Saudi site to achieve IUCN Green List status. Sharaan Nature Reserve (AlUla) – Pioneering rewilding efforts, including the reintroduction of Arabian gazelles and ostriches. King Abdulaziz Royal Nature Reserve – Advancing native species conservation and sustainable land restoration. 🇦🇪 UAE’s Progress toward the Green List The UAE, through the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) and partners, has actively collaborated with IUCN to align key protected areas with Green List standards. Highlighted areas include: Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve – The first marine biosphere reserve in the region, protecting coral reefs, dugongs, and seagrass meadows. Al Wathba Wetland Reserve – A sanctuary for flamingos and migratory birds, demonstrating strong governance and habitat management. Saadiyat Marine National Park – Conserving critical nesting beaches for hawksbill turtles and maintaining coastal biodiversity. These efforts mark a regional shift from biodiversity protection to measurable nature-positive outcomes, backed by data, collaboration, and science-based management. The Middle East is increasingly becoming a voice for restoration, resilience, and responsible stewardship — and the IUCN Green List offers a powerful framework to celebrate and scale that progress. #IUCN #GreenList #Biodiversity #NaturePositive #SaudiArabia #UAE #EAD #Vision2030 #Sustainability #Conservation #NatureBasedSolutions #ClimateAction

Conservation is not just about nature—it is about relationships, power, and the systems that sustain both people and ecosystems. This document offers a rare and comprehensive lens on how communities interact with their environments through complex, interdependent systems. Developed by the Community Conservation Research Network (CCRN), it reframes conservation not as isolated technical fixes but as a dynamic process embedded in governance, culture, livelihoods, and resilience. For M&E professionals and humanitarian practitioners, it provides not only theory but tested frameworks for evaluating real-world interactions between social and ecological systems. – It introduces foundational concepts: Social-Ecological Systems, Resilience, Scales and Levels, Transformation, Thresholds, and Power – It details governance dynamics: Cross-Level Institutions, Community Stewardship, Knowledge Co-Production, and Adaptive Co-Management – It presents integrated frameworks: Ostrom’s SES Model, the Resource Systems Approach, the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, and Community Resilience Indicators – It provides empirical case studies: Seagrass Restoration in Tokyo Bay – Marine Protected Areas in Bali – and Fisheries-Driven Mobilization in Nova Scotia – It embeds participatory insights: Local Worldviews, Collective Action, Bridging Organizations, and the Politics of Conservation Outcomes This is not a traditional ecology manual—it is a systems-thinking blueprint for those who want conservation to work with communities rather than on them. Whether you’re shaping governance policies, co-designing monitoring tools, or evaluating multi-stakeholder marine initiatives, this guide delivers the concepts, frameworks, and grounded lessons needed to align environmental sustainability with social equity and institutional legitimacy.

As #ClimateWeekNYC comes to a close this weekend, I’ve been reflecting on a success case I learned about during a recent visit to Brazil. Foundation for Amazon Sustainability (FAS) is working to preserve and sustain the Amazon through long-term financial and ecological programs. And they’re doing it with data at the center.    This data-driven NGO is using technology and centralized ESG data to move faster from insight to action: prioritizing scarce resources, demonstrating impact to donors, and making smarter, mission-driven decisions to advance their conservation and social goals. With the SAP Sustainability Control Tower , FAS now centralizes, monitors, and analyzes critical ESG data in ways tailored to their needs. That capability helps them meet ESG reporting requirements, surface the most effective interventions, and build trust with communities, funders, and policymakers. What’s the big lesson here? If we want scalable sustainability outcomes, we must invest in tools that align to local realities and make impact measurable and transparent. The FAS story is a powerful example of how that can work! Congratulations to the entire team behind this inspiring partnership!  https://lnkd.in/ehANgw_U #Sustainability #AmazonConservation #ESG #DataDriven #SustainableDevelopment

Kicking people off their land to “save” nature isn’t conservation—it’s a ticking time bomb. Tanzania has an area equivalent to seven Yellowstones managed for wildlife by herders, farmers, and hunter-gatherers. These landscapes aren’t just surviving—they’re thriving, because local people have a direct stake in protecting them. Yet for decades, the dominant conservation model has been “fortress conservation”—a strategy that fences off land, expels local communities, and prioritizes the interests of foreign tourists and investors. National parks were meant to protect biodiversity, but too often, they became what some call “a preserve for white foreign tourists,” while the very communities whose lands these parks were built on were cast as threats rather than stewards. A new study by Maliasili highlights a different path, one where conservation thrives because of people, not in spite of them. It reveals that community-managed conservancies now protect more wildlife than state-run parks—and often do it better. In Kenya, for example, nearly two-thirds of the country’s large mammals are found outside national parks, in areas where local people make decisions about land use and directly benefit from conservation efforts. This approach isn’t just working in Kenya. In Tanzania, organizations like Honeyguide Foundation and Ujamaa Community Resource Team are helping communities secure land rights and manage wildlife successfully—it’s also happening across the world. In India, the Foundation For Ecological Security (FES) has helped thousands of villages restore and protect millions of acres of shared forests and grasslands. In Indonesia, EcoNusa Foundation and Planet Indonesia partner with Indigenous communities to protect forests while strengthening local economies. By securing land rights, supporting sustainable livelihoods, and ensuring that local people share in the benefits of protecting nature, these models are rewriting the conservation playbook. Read more about Maliasili’s study and the power of community-led conservation in Yale Environment 360 —> https://lnkd.in/g-EqusFH