Setting up an Education Programme

Although conservation education is extremely complex and there is no â€˜one size fits allâ€™ solution, there are a number of basic steps to take in developing a conservation education programme. The variable factors such as geo-political, socio-economic and cultural issues will shape the development and delivery of the actual programme i.e. target groups, resources available, how the programme will be delivered and so on. But no matter how simple or complicated a conservation education programme is, there are a number of stages which will apply to most programmes:

1. Identify and define the primary conservation goal or goals.

2. Identify and define the threats or barriers to the
primary conservation goal(s).

3. Identify, research and define the target groups â€“ according
to the level of threat or barrier.

4. Identify and define the education aims and objectives.

5. Implement the education programme.

6. Monitor and evaluate the education programme.

1. IDENTIFY AND DEFINE THE PRIMARY CONSERVATION
GOAL OR GOALS

Primary conservation goals are usually straightforward â€“ for example, to protect and conserve canid populations and/or their habitat (this may also be extended to include their prey species).

Although it may be stating the obvious, it is a useful exercise to have the primary conservation goals as a starting point when developing a conservation education programme. It helps the educators or programme developers to focus on the main aims and to maintain this focus throughout the course of the project. Conservation and conservation education are such wide and varied subjects, that it is easy to lose sight of what is actually trying to be achieved. Also, some projects may be ongoing over many years, possibly decades. Some people will leave the project and others will take their place during this period, and it is therefore important that it is understood what the original goals were.

At this stage, it may also be necessary to quantify the criteria for success of the conservation goals, in terms of both the biological and social measures.

2. IDENTIFY AND DEFINE THREATS AND BARRIERS TO THE
PRIMARY CONSERVATION GOAL(S)

This is the key to solving the conservation problem or issue. In our modern world environmental problems are often anthropogenic. The human population is unquestionably having a devastating effect on the natural world.

Habitat Loss or Fragmentation through land use
Human / Carnivore Conflict resulting in persecution
Prey-Predator relationships â€“ e.g. overharvesting of prey species
Political â€“ legislation and policy
Prevailing attitudes â€“ usually negative for canids and often fuelled by ignorance, fear and/or apathy
Hybridisation
Disease
Pollution
Economics over ethics â€“ even when considering conservation strategies very often there is a focus on â€˜worthâ€™ and â€˜valueâ€™ in economic terms rather than biocentric terms
Religious beliefs â€“ e.g. Judeo-Christian beliefs in dominion over nature

This list is not exhaustive, and there may also be a number of threats that occur simultaneously. For example, the Ethiopian Wolf is threatened by disease, hybridisation and habitat loss, making the application of a conservation education programme much more complex.

Placing the Threats and Barriers in Context

Simply identifying the threats and barriers is not enough. The exact nature of the threat needs to be clearly understood. Why is the threat or barrier there? What are the underlying reasons for the conservation problems? These may be extremely complex and may require a level of research that is beyond the scope of the conservation education programme. All these issues need to be considered and evaluated.

The conservation problem and possible solutions also need to be placed into a wider geo-political and cultural context. Conservationists often carry out their work in other countries where there may be different languages spoken and a variety of different cultures.

â€œThe reasons individuals interact detrimentally with the biosphere vary with culture, the structure of economies, and the social status of the actors. Discussing negotiating less destructive modes of human interaction with the biosphere has proved difficult for two reasons. First, the problems involve many different actors in various positions doing different things for a variety of reasons. These differences make it inherently difficult to find common ground for agreeing on less destructive modes of interaction. Second, to facilitate analysis and communication, people simplify the complex problem of biodiversity loss in different ways.â€ (Norgaard, 1997)

It is this â€˜cultural variabilityâ€™ that is one of the main factors in the complexity of conservation and conservation education. In developed, industrialised nations, the problems are further exacerbated as we become more and more removed from the natural world:

â€œPerhaps the most serious obstacle impeding the evolution of a land ethic is the fact that our educational and economic system is headed away from, rather that toward, an intense consciousness of land. Your true modern is separated from the land by many middlemen, and by innumerable physical gadgets. He has no vital relation to it; to him it is the space between cities on which crops grow.â€ Aldo Leopold (1949)

This removal from the natural world is reflected in our education systems which equip future generations with the skills and knowledge to prepare them for the workplace and not as responsible stewards of nature.

â€œOur education systems are aimed at equipping people to become â€œhandmaidens of industryâ€ (Jarvis, 1993).

Identifying the threats and barriers to conservation (both direct and indirect), evaluating the underlying reasons and placing them in context will help when identifying and defining the target groups causing the problem.

3. IDENTIFY, RESEARCH AND DEFINE THE TARGET GROUPS

For any conservation education programme to be successful in achieving both the conservation and education goals, it is vital that the target groups are clearly defined and understood. It is worth investing as much time and energy as possible in this part of the process. Knowing and understanding your target groups in detail will help you to formulate your education strategy â€“ what â€˜messageâ€™ you need to deliver to each particular target group, and how this will be achieved. It will also help you to identify or quantify how long the process is likely to take to achieve the conservation education aims and objectives.

According to Jacobson (1999), â€œThe â€˜general publicâ€™ does not existâ€. It is necessary to define target groups more specifically. The term â€˜communityâ€™ is also too general, and must be clearly defined and understood. A geographical community (town, city, neighbourhood) is usually defined by physical boundaries. Another concept of community is â€˜community of interestâ€™ where the members share a common goal, purpose or interest.

Having identified what the conservation problem is, the next stage is to identify the target groups at which the education is to be aimed, and to describe and understand the homogenous characteristics of those groups. This will require further sub-division of the categories. For example, hunters or farmers may be homogenous groups, but there are hunters and farmers who are conservationists, and obviously this will affect the type of education being delivered to these each particular group.

Hunters

Subsistence and economic hunters
Trophy and sports hunters
Traditional or lifestyle hunters
Professional hunters â€“ wildlife managers, rangers, Government officials

Farmers, ranchers and livestock owners

Openly hostile to large predators
â€˜Predatorâ€™ Friendly
Tolerant

Policy Makers

Biologists and other scientists
Researchers
Conservationists and Environmentalists
Non Government Organisations - (Bear in mind that there may be NGOs that are totally opposed to your conservation goals. For example, the Farm Bureau in the USA vehemently fought for the removal of the reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone.)
Educators
Local Community Groups and Indigenous populations
Local businesses
National and multi-national corporations
International Organisations
Media

The target groups can be measured in terms of their level of resistance to the primary conservation goals. The more resistant the target group is to the primary conservation goal, the more difficult it will be to influence a change in behaviour that will help achieve the conservation goal.

At the lower (non-resistant) end of the scale there are those groups who are simply unaware of the conservation problem and who are (on the whole) in favour of conservation. Raising awareness of the problem through communication and public relations is more likely to influence a change in attitude and behaviour. However, these are the groups of people who are least likely to have their lifestyles affected by the conservation problems or issues and who will find it much easier to support the conservation programme.

The groups that are totally resistant to the primary conservation goals will have no motive for modifying their behaviour, and may fail to see why they should. In certain situations, the target group may even be openly hostile to the conservationists. A farmer or hunter whose very survival depends on conducting â€˜irresponsible environmental behaviourâ€™ is unlikely to change this behaviour unless there is economic incentive for him to do so. â€œWhen livelihoods are involved, people tend to make decisions that maximise their self-interest in the short term.â€ (Norgaard, 1997). It is these target groups whose lifestyles are likely to be affected by the conservation problem, or by the change in behaviour required to mitigate the problem.

Canid conservation also has the added barrier of negative perceptions and attitudes. For example, farmers in some countries perceive the wolf as being the main predator of livestock when there are other predators that have a much more significant impact on livestock depredation, and which kill livestock in far greater numbers than wolves. However, the wolf is the primary target for eradication. In situations like this the research into target groups will need to take account of these negative perceptions.

In some cases, certain target groups may be placed at both ends of the scale. There are farmers and hunters who are also conservationists. In America there are farmers who have adopted a â€˜predator friendlyâ€™ policy. One farm, Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool Company in Montana, USA, practises non-lethal methods of predator control using llama to protect livestock. Thirteen Mile produces knitwear from its sheepâ€™s wool depicting wolves which they sell to supplement their income, even though their livestock have been threatened by wolves.

To obtain a more detailed picture, further research into the demographics of the target groups may be required. Information about their general lifestyles, culture, politics and religion will help gain a deeper understanding. â€œA historical and ideological perspective teaches us that there is no one, objective, monolithic truth about society-nature/environment relationshipsâ€¦ There are different truths for different groups of people in different social positions and with different ideologies.â€ (Pepper, 1996)

As well as understanding what the conservation problem is and who or what is the cause, it is also important to understand â€˜whyâ€™. What â€˜motivatesâ€™ the target group to conduct the behaviour that is affecting or threatening the species or habitat? For example:

economic survival â€“ bounty hunting, hunting to provide food, clothing
to protect their livelihood â€“ protecting livestock
to protect themselves and their families â€“ especially against predators (although this may well be a perceived threat than an actual one)
to eradicate competition â€“ for prey species
negative attitudes and perceptions â€“ persecution
sport / lifestyle hunting
tradition â€“ â€œmy father was hunter, and my fatherâ€™s fatherâ€

Complexities

It is clear that the problem at the higher end of the â€˜Resistance Scaleâ€™ becomes much more complex, and can have a knock-on effect. For example, if a farmer, hunter or poacher depends on farming or hunting for survival, it is unlikely that their behaviour will be modified through education alone. There would also have to be some form of economic incentive or recompense. Hunting and farming groups also have a powerful political voice in some countries and may influence policy-makers. In these situations, other conservation strategies are needed, which may require some form of education for other groups of people in order to ultimately achieve the primary conservation goals. Awareness of such complexities, however, will help formulate education strategies which can be used in conjunction with other conservation strategies, and will hopefully promote some form of unity and cohesion in working towards the overall goals of the project.

4. IDENTIFY AND DEFINE THE EDUCATION AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

There are secondary goals which are the education goals and these will usually be aimed at modifying the behaviour of target groups in order to achieve the overall conservation goals. â€œMost conservation education programs aim to influence long-term behaviour, a goal of great complexityâ€. (Jacobson, 1999).

The goals of conservation education are many, and include:

Increasing public knowledge and consequent support for the development of appropriate environmental management and conservation policies.

Fostering a conservation ethic that will enable responsible natural resource stewardship

Altering patterns of natural resource consumption

Enhancing the technical capabilities of natural resource managers

Incorporating resource management concerns into private sector and government policy-making processes

Source: Principles of Conservation Biology

Why do the particular groups or sub-groups need educating in relation to the conservation goals? What type of education is required â€“ formal, informal, non-formal or simply a public relations or communications programme? Some groups may simply need to be made aware of a particular problem to change their perceptions, others may require attitude or behaviour changes. The first is less problematic. There are fewer ethical and philosophical considerations. Providing information and knowledge to raise awareness may not require the recipients or students to take action or to make any radical changes to their lifestyle. The degree of behaviour modification will depend on the degree of resistance to the primary conservation goal and will determine the nature of the education programme. Education aimed at changing attitudes and behaviours, on the other hand, requires a great deal of reflection and consideration of the complexity of the issues involved. Canid biologists and conservationists are well aware of the hostility they can face when the species they are trying to protect and conserve comes into direct conflict with human activities â€“ hunting, livestock farming, etc. At this level, a number of conservation strategies may be required â€“ education, legislation and economic incentives or recompense.

Education strategies as a conservation tool should not be used in isolation. If behaviour modification is required at a societal level, and a variety of strategies are to be applied, then this will require a multi-agency approach which might also require a change in attitude or behaviour on the part of biologists and conservationists.

5. IMPLEMENT THE EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Getting the Message Across

Based on the target group research, it will need to be decided what combination of education and communication strategies are required for each particular group and what resources will be needed to â€˜deliver the messageâ€™.

Planning

Some form of planning is required at all stages of the process, but once the data have been gathered about the nature of the conservation problem and the target groups involved, incorporating all this information into a Strategic Action Plan or an Operational Plan will enable the delivery and monitoring and evaluation of the programme. Some suggestions on headings for the plan are given below.

Background Information
Aims and Objectives of the Programme

Primary Conservation Goal
Education Aims and Objectives
Short, Medium and Long Term Objectives

Research

Target Group Research
Methodologies
Research Results

Conservation Education Strategy

Target Groups
Type of Education Programme

Communication / Awareness Programme
Formal Education Programme
Community Education
Informal Education â€“ NGOs

Resources Required

Human
Financial
Capital Equipment
Operational

Legal Issues

Conventions and Treaties
Licences and Permits
Local, National and International Legislation
Employment Law

Financial Plan

Budgets
Income and Expenditure Forecasts
Cashflow Forecasts
Balance Sheet

Resources Required

Human Resources

Human resources will probably be multi-agency. For example, involving scientists, educators, conservationists, administrators, policy-makers, community groups, local businesses, the media, etc. In the world of business, the term â€˜stakeholdersâ€™ would be used.

The various roles will need to be clearly defined, and communication between the various agencies or stakeholders is vital.

Project leaders are vital to the success of the programme and will need to be identified and accepted as they will be the driving force behind the project. Strong, effective leaders will also help to deal with any conflict resolution which may threaten the programme.

Financial Resources

Obtaining the necessary funding for any conservation project requires a great deal of time and energy. For conservationists this is a part of the process that is often the least welcome, and one that few people are trained to undertake. Financing a project is often seen as a â€˜necessary evilâ€™ and for this reason can often be undertaken half-heartedly. It is also a continuous process, especially if the project is long term. Preparing a Financial Plan will help and can be done with the help of spreadsheets or simple accounting software packages.

The first step of this process is to establish how much finance will be required and what this will be for:

- Salaries

- Capital Equipment

- Premises

- Materials

- Research

- Travel Expenses

- Operational Expenses and other overheads

Accessing funding can often be a long, difficult and dispiriting process. It takes a great deal of attention to detail, particularly when applying for grants and awards. Form-filling and preparing and submitting reports all require time, energy and expertise.

Funds can come from a number of different sources:

- Sponsorships

- Awards and prizes

- Grant Making and Trust Fund Agencies

- Legacies and Bequests

- Donations

- Fund-raising activities

Creative thinking will help to identify resources from the most unlikely sources. For example, it may be possible to obtain expensive equipment (including vehicles) through sponsorships or donation of the items.

Use your networks â€“ both existing ones and new ones. This may provide links to sources of funding not previously considered or known about.

Obtaining funding is an ongoing process, especially if the conservation education process is a long term one.

7. MONITOR AND EVALUATE THE EDUCATION PROGRAMME

There are two aspects to this stage of the process â€“ the success of the conservation programme and the success of the education programme. The main objective is to measure the success of the education programme. An important point to bear in mind is that failure to achieve the primary conservation goal does not necessarily mean that the education programme itself has failed. There are other factors influencing the eventual outcome, and education will usually be just one of a number of strategies applied to the conservation problem. This is an important point because the benefits gained from the whole conservation education process will not be wasted or lost, and can be replicated to help other conservation programmes.

It is important that the conservation goals are clearly defined and criteria for measuring success are laid down.

Measuring an abstract concept such as education is very difficult. How can one measure whether changing the attitudes and the behaviour patterns of target groups has actually been achieved when set against the criteria for success of the overall conservation programme? If an overall conservation programme has been successful in terms of the recovery of a population of a species or habitat, how does one measure what part the education initiative had to play in this success?

The two aspects are clearly linked, but also need to be dealt with separately.

Research carried out by Susan Jacobson and Mallory McDuff on 15 conservation case studies identified 28 programme elements of success relating to conservation education. The case study examples given in the table below can be found in Conserving Wildlife: International Education and Communication Approaches, edited by Susan K Jacobson.

Planning
Have clear goals	Goals of the educational programmes in Malaysia and Brazil (Jacobson & Padua, 1995) (1) to introduce students to the parks and the parksâ€™ values and benefits (2) to present students with basic ecological principles in the field (3) To increase student interest in the natural world
Identify measurable objectives	Examples of objectives for the programmes in Malaysia and Brazil (Jacobson and Padua, 1995) After attendance in the programme students will be able to: (1) list benefits of the park (2) explain several ecological principles (3) identify several common plants and animals in the park and their adaptations (4) become interested enough in nature to continue environmental activities at their schools and homes
Adopt an interdisciplinary approach	The Mountain Gorilla Project used an interdisciplinary research approach, integrating socioeconomic and attitudinal surveys with ecological data on the status of the Virunga gorilla population(Weber, 1995)
Assess participantsâ€™ social/education/economic backgrounds	The RARE programme for the conservation of parrots in the Caribbean used an initial baseline questionnaire to assess existing knowledge and attitudes toward the target species, as well as information regarding age, occupation, and exposure to mass media (Butler, 1995)
Ensure programme relevance to local populations	The guide training programme in Costa Rica targeted underemployed or unemployed local residents to increase the relevance of a training programme that could provide economic benefits (Paaby & Clark, 1995)
Build necessary support (govt/community/industry)	The programme to reverse population declines on Quebecâ€™s Lower North Shore collaborated with the Canadian Wildlife Service to gain cooperation from the government (Blanchard, 1995)
Maintain a budget plan	The total cost of the guide training programme in Cost Rica was US $24,614
Develop an organizational plan	After developing land management plans, the Community Baboon Sanctuary created a formal administrative and management structure, which includes an advisory board of elected members (Horwich & Lyon, 1995)
Plan for potential problems and resolution of conflicts	Anticipating skepticism from outfitters in the Yukon, the planners for the programme to enhance male-selective harvest of grizzly bears held outfitter workships with a respected Alaskan Master Bear Guide who could reliably identify sex, age, and weight of a bear (Smith, 1995)
Implementation
Follow an integrated approach	The activities to promote conservation of cranes in Pakistan integrated ecological research, education and wildlife extension into programme implementation (Landfried et al., 1995)
Use existing organizations / groups	Using the public schools in Lee Country, Florida, environmental educators began the Monday Group Program, where students engage in action research to investigate local environmental problems (Hannond, 1995)
Encourage active / voluntary participation	The land management plans of the Community Baboon Sanctuary in Belize were secured through voluntary, nonbinding agreements with landholders (Horwich & Lyon, 1995)
Involve reluctant participants creatively	Audiovisual and live presentations were used to involve local adults in the Golden Lion Tamarin Project in Brazil, as 41% of adults have no formal education (Dietz & Nagagata, 1995)
Be sensitive to audience	The conservation staff of Les Mielles in the UK provided public meetings for residents to discuss their views of the land use development plan in order to address local perception of conservation as elitist (Romeril, 1995)
Provide direct contact with the environment/ resource	In Quebec, a primary educational activity included a four-day experiential programme for youth at the St Maryâ€™s Islands Seabird Sanctuary, where students gained first-hand knowledge of seabird biology and management (Blanchard, 1995)
Use key ecosystems / resources / species in programme	In Rwanda, the mountain gorillas of the Virunga forest were the focus of educational programmes to foster conservation of habitat, as well as the species (Weber, 1995)
Select appropriate educational media	The Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN) must tailor the water quality testing activities for students in different countries, depending on available resources in the schools. In some programmes, teachers use biological indices for monitoring, when testing for chemical parameters is not feasible (Stapp et al., 1995)
Use mass media	Educational activities in the Caribbean used radio and television stations to broadcast videos and songs promoting conservation of parrots (Butler, 1995)
Focus on economic / cultural values	An education video targeting hunting guides in the Yukon used the symbolic values of bears as representing power and aggression to appeal to the guides through the videoâ€™s images (Smith, 1995)
Provide conservation incentives	In Thailand, conservation of bats was linked to economic incentives gained by local residents from the sale of bat excrement (Morton & Murphy, 1995)
Maintain informality / entertainment value of programme	A premise of Australiaâ€™s Junior Ranger Program is that students have fun during their after-school environmental activities that range from conducting mammal surveys to birdwatching (Traynor, 1995)
Evaluation
Evaluate programme	The park programmes for student in Malaysia and Brazil evaluated the programmes throughout development and programme implementation. Evaluation tools included questionnaires for students and teachers; a pre-test-post-test control group design; pilot testing of programme materials; and follow-up measures of student participation in conservation activities at school and home (Jacobson & Padua, 1995)
Use more than method of evaluation	The Golden Lion Tamarin Project in Brazil compared the results of a baseline attitude and knowledge survey with a similar survey conducted two years after programme implementation. The evaluation also included the number of landowners who agreed to have tamarins reintroduced on their land, and the number of illegally held tamarins that were returned to the reserve (Dietz & Nagagata, 1995)