Planning Conservation Projects & Programs Using the Open Standards Curriculum

Key questions facing all conservation practitioners and organizations are: “What actions are needed to achieve our conservation goals?” and “Are our actions effective in achieving our conservation goals?” It is imperative to answer these questions to focus attention on the most important actions, to be able to adapt and change our actions over time, to learn about which actions work and do not work, and to convince our donors and society that conservation is a worthy investment.

This curriculum is based on the Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP) Open Standards and covers Step 1 and Step 2 of the standards. These standards are the product of inputs, field tests, discussions, and debates among many CMP members and their partners.

You may choose to complete any of the lessons below; however, to receive a certificate of completion for either Step 1 or Step 2 you must complete the step assessment with a minimum score of 70%.


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Planning for Conservation: Using the Conservation Standards

In order to achieve our conservation goals, the conservation community must determine the extent to which our actions are working – and we must be able to diagnose why some actions succeed while others do not. The Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP) has created the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation (Conservation Standards hereafter) to bring together common concepts, approaches, and terminology in conservation project and program design, management, and monitoring in order to help improve the practice of conservation.

Planning for Conservation: Using the Conservation Standards provides detailed guidance on Steps 1 and 2 of the Conservation Standards, which focus on assessing the situation and planning conservation projects and programs.

Duration: 3-4 Hours