Executive Manager's Message

The year is in full swing and the CLP team has just returned from Alberta, Canada, where we hosted this year’s Conservation Management & Leadership Training Workshop for 2011 Conservation Award winning teams. We had the great opportunity to meet representatives from 26 of this year’s 30 award-winning team projects and reconnect with alumni who came as interpreters.

The group was as lively as ever, full of enthusiasm and an eagerness to learn. Beyond the formal workshop sessions, the group planned several culture nights, where they were able to showcase the unique culture of their country of origin – from music, to food and dance. In addition to lots of dancing, we tasted chipotle chili chocolate from Mexico, learned ‘where the heck’ to find Belize and experienced a traditional tea ceremony from Kazakhstan.

In the course of two weeks, the world became a much smaller place. As these individuals build their careers in conservation, they will take this global network with them and hopefully continue to develop this network for years to come. It is greatly inspiring to spend time with so many committed professionals working toward the same goal – the protection of nature so that future generations can thrive.

As we welcome this new crop of CLP grantees, we are also happy to welcome Christina Imrich to the CLP team! Christina will be managing the alumni network and internship programs and is based at the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York City. She is passionate about conservation and is eager to bring new ideas to the program.

Enjoy reading the highlights of some of the good work that is currently happening in the field. Our teams have exciting progress to share, including the creation of a wildlife sanctuary in the Philippines and a celebrity visit to Assam, India to congratulate the local community on their work conserving the Adjutant Stork. Also, be sure to keep an eye out in the months ahead for news on the 2012 Call for Proposals.

Thank you for your continued support of the Conservation Leadership Programme. We are honored to work with you as we support a new generation of conservation leaders.

Robyn Dalzen
Executive Manager

We met here, we mingled – a tuneful reminder of good times shared by the 2011 CLP award winners

New bat discoveries in Vietnam

Fundación Ecodiversa launches new educational booklet in Supatá, Colombia

5 August 2011 CLP Alumni Travel Grant deadline.

14-16 September 2011 Student Conference on Conservation Science, Bangalore, India.

12-14 October 2011 Student Conference on Conservation Science, New York, USA.

31 Oct-4 Nov 2011 64th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, Puerto Morelos, Mexico.

8-14 November 2011 Neotropical Ornithology Congress, Cusco, Peru.

5-9 December 2011 International Congress for Conservation Biology, Auckland, New Zealand. Early registration closes 2 September.

20-22 March 2012 Student Conference on Conservation Science, Cambridge, UK.

News from the Field

Team Awards are granted to teams of three or more individuals who are undertaking high-priority conservation projects. The awards are arranged in a tiered system to allow for progression and include the Future Conservationist Award, Conservation Follow-up Award and Conservation Leadership Award.

AFRICA
Dugong Without Borders: Building Capacity for Indian Ocean Sirenian Conservation, Comoros (2006, 2009)
Community Centred Conservation Madagascar and the Boy Scouts of Antsiranana participated in a project this year to raise awareness of marine species amongst coastal communities in Northern Madagascar- the Marine Conservation Roadshow. In early 2011, the Roadshow was chosen to attend the Volvo Adventure Awards in Göteborg, Sweden.

Mitigating human-crane conflict in Driefontein Grasslands, Central Zimbabwe (2010)
The 2010 CLP grantees from BirdLife Zimbabwe have for the first time tested the use of a combination of human and dog models and plastic balloon scarecrows to reduce crop damage by Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum and Wattled Crane Bugeranus carunculatus in Driefontein Grasslands, Central Zimbabwe.

Read more about projects in Africa...

ASIA/PACIFIC
Calayan Rail Project: Targeting Community Involvement to Conserve an Island-Endemic Species, Philippines (2007, 2008, 2009)

In a unanimous vote on May 10, 2011, the Sangguniang Bayan of Calayan approved an ordinance establishing the Longog Wildlife Sanctuary. The Sanctuary includes areas in Sitio Longog and parts of barangays Magsidel, Dibay, Dilam and Cabudadan. It covers a total land area of 2,900 hectares. Isla Biodiversity Conservation, through the Calayan Rail Project has been facilitating the dialogues among different stakeholders for this community endeavor since 2007.

Conservation Initiatives for Greater Adjutant Stork in Assam, India (2009)
After about an hour drive from the heart of bustling city of Guwahati in Assam, you are right beneath the tree-top nesting colony of rare Greater Adjutant storks at Dadara village, a community which has made great progress protecting this bird. In an attempt to highlight their commitment to conservation, the Aaranyak team facilitated a visit from the glamorous and popular Assamese film actress, Ms. Prastuti Parasar.

Read more about projects in Asia/Pacific...

EURASIA
CHAGRA'2010: Enhancing Conservation of the Chalk Grasslands in Ukraine (2010)
In March this year, the team made a good contact with the Center of Children’s Creativity in Dvourechnaya town. They were asked to organize a 4-day educational field training camp at the newly created Dvourechansky National Park. The training was made especially for primary schoolchildren and is titled: “Wonderful is beside you.”

Survey of three potential Important Bird Areas in collaboration with Students in Uzbekistan (2010)
This team found that Lake Ayakagytma, Uzbekistan is a very important place for the migration of rare birds such as the Dalmatian Pelican, Black-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Curlew and others. Also, the loess cliffs surrounding Ayakagytma are great places for nesting birds of prey - Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Eagle Owl, Little Owl and rare species such as the Egyptian Vulture and Saker Falcon.

Read more about projects in Eurasia...

LATIN AMERICA
Araripe Manakin Conservation Center, Brazil (2004, 2007, 2010)
The steep slopes of the Chapada do Araripe harbor a small area of unique humid forest habitat that is completely isolated amid the arid catinga biome that dominates the landscape of northeastern Brazil. It is estimated that 77% of the humid forest in Araripe has been destroyed since human occupation. The challenges of managing a situation where a growing human population can live in such close proximity to the Critically Endangered Araripe Manakin without causing its extinction also presents an opportunity to protect and improve the quality of life for people by protecting biodiversity and natural resources.

Read more about this project in Latin America...

MIDDLE EAST
Conserving Wild Goats (Capra aegagrus) at Peramagroon Mountain & Barzan Area, Iraq (2011)
The Nature Iraq team began work with the globally vulnerable Wild Goat (Capra aegagrus) in two mountainous areas in Kurdistan, northern Iraq. After initial surveys in both areas, the team reports great success, finding Wild Goat not just where they are commonly reported in Barzan, but also establishing their presence on Peramagroon Mountain where their status was less certain.

Read more about this project in Middle East...

CLP Alumni: Where Are They Now?

Stubble Trouble – Ben Han jumps to the rescue of the moustache toad

Halting the rapid decline in amphibians has become one of the hot topics in biodiversity conservation. In a recent interview with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), CLP alumnus Ben Han gives a vivid account of the disappearance of frogs and toads from the place where he grew up on the China-Vietnam border. As part of his first CLP-funded project, Ben focused on the moustache toad and helped raise awareness of this extraordinary looking creature. Having recently won a $25,000 CLP Follow-up award, what more can we expect from Ben and his team?

To see the full text article, click here.

Final Reports

These recently concluded projects have had some exciting results. To download a pdf copy of a project report, click on the links below.

Project Websites

Check out project websites for updated news and images from award winning teams in the field: