Sweden and Norway Roll Out Strategic Planning Across Protected Areas

One protected area at a time, Sweden and Norway have been expanding the use of the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation to improve collaboration and develop sound management plans. This work started in 2008 when FOS guided a Swedish team and a wide array of stakeholders through a planning process for Kosterhavets National Park, the first national marine park in Sweden. Participants from the Norwegian government agency, Fylkesmannen, then applied the principles to Ytre Hvaler National Park, an area adjacent to Kosterhavets. This led to formal cross-border collaboration and both parks were officially opened in September 2009 by the royal families of Sweden and Norway as their nations’ first marine transboundary park. Based on this successful experience, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency worked with FOS to help apply the Open Standards to a network of five marine areas in the Baltic Sea. The use of the Open Standards as common language has been instrumental in shaping learning and collaboration across these critical protected areas. For more information on FOS in Europe, please contact Ilke Tilders at Ilke@FOSonline.org.

Market Initiative Aims to Transform Commodities Production 

FOS has been working with WWF on the development of the Market Transformation Initiative. This initiative aims to transform markets of various commodities such as cotton, soybeans, timber, and whitefish by helping multinational companies produce them at affordable costs with reduced environmental impacts. FOS has assisted MTI by using the WWF Project and Programme Standards to develop a strategic plan and a monitoring system for the initiative. This work has shown the power of applying these Standards to complex non place-based conservation work. 

Adaptive Management Concepts Gain Traction in Academic Settings

Interest in adaptive management training from academia is on the rise! FOS involvement in this trend has ranged from directly teaching or co-teaching courses to sharing materials with and providing advice to those interested in establishing courses on their own. Among the academic institutions paving the way in this exciting new trend are the University of Maryland, Monterey Institute of International Studies, and Eberswalde University, all of which are entering their third or fourth years offering courses in strategic planning and adaptive management.  Other graduate programs with new courses include North Caroline State University, University of California - Davis, University of California - Santa Barbara, University of Florida, and the Latin American School for Protected Areas Training.  In addition, groups such as the Organization for Tropical Studies and the Alliance for the Tropical Andes have worked with FOS to reach students and train teachers across a wide network of universities.  

FOS is excited to see the momentum that academic training in adaptive management is gaining. To meet growing demand for information, FOS is establishing a learning network on teaching adaptive management to undergraduate and graduate students.  If you wish to receive emails regarding this new network, please contact Vinaya Swaminathan at Vinaya@FOSonline.org. 

Highlighted Publications from 2009

• Margoluis, Richard, Caroline Stem, Nick Salafsky, and Marcia Brown. 2009. Design Alternatives for Evaluating the Impact of Conservation Projects. In M. Birnbaum & P. Mickwitz (Eds.), Environmental program and policy evaluation: Addressing methodological challenges. New Directions for Evaluation, 122, 85-96.
• Margoluis, Richard, Caroline Stem, Nick Salafsky, and Marcia Brown. 2009. Using Conceptual Models as a Planning and Evaluation Tool in Conservation. Evaluation and Program Planning 32, 138-147.
• Foundations of Success. 2009. Using Conceptual Models to Document a Situation Analysis: An FOS How-To Guide. Foundations of Success, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

  Forward this email to a friend