We and our partners around the globe have had a dynamic last 12 months. Read on to see the biggest accomplishments you, our donors, have made possible.
DOING Community-based Conservation
Working with local communities to protect biodiversity in their own backyards…
1. New project in Thailand! Working with indigenous Karen communities to conserve tiger and their prey in Thung Yai National Parks
We are collaborating with the University of Minnesota and the Seub Foundation with support from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to support community conservation in 14 communities in Thung Yai Naresuan East and West Wildlife Sanctuaries to conserve tiger (Panthera tigris) and their prey species banteng (Bos javanicus), gaur (Bos gaurus), and sambar (Rusa unicolor). Read more about this project.
2. Indigenous Naga communities training and wetland conservation in northwest Myanmar.
Our partners in Myanmar, Friends of Wildlife, were finally able to resume activities with communities despite dangerous conditions due to ongoing internal conflict. They recently finished a Biodiversity Heroes Training with 32 participants from 13 Naga communities in northwest Myanmar. The communities are in the Patkai Mountain Range, which is home to many rare and threatened wildlife species such as western hoolock gibbon, gaur, banteng, leopard, clouded leopard, leaf deer, pangolin, bear, leaf monkey, etc. The area is also home to two wetlands, Naung Sai and Naung Yan Lakes, which the communities are keen to start protecting as part of this project because these are biodiverse areas important to them.
3. Community wildlife corridor in southeastern Nepal.
We finished camera trapping in 28 communities in Jhapa and Morang districts and held workshops to share results. We camera trapped 42 species total, with 10 species of conservation concern including Chinese pangolin, Asian elephant, and common leopard. We learned that local poachers hunting deer primarily for local elites is one of the main threats the communities face to protect wildlife in their forests. The lack of prey in this part of Nepal is a major limitation for the expansion of tigers across the landscape. Read more about this project.
4. Creating a community-managed forest corridor for chimpanzees in Somié, Cameroon.
Our partners in Cameroon, Community-Based Biosynergy Management, have successfully camera trapped chimps, which is the first recorded evidence of chimpanzees inhabiting this landscape. They also built the capacity of the community to begin monitoring the chimpanzees conducting a 3-day training workshop on camera trap manipulation and deployment, the use of GPS to collect data, compass handling, and survey techniques. Read more about this project.
5. Developing an Indigenous Community-Based Monitoring Program in Dja Faunal Reserve, Cameroon
10 Baka hunter-gatherer villages in the southern periphery of the Dja Faunal Reserve have agreed to form a community-based wildlife monitoring program and are being trained in the use of smartphones and special software to monitor wildlife. The Baka are an indigenous group of hunter-gatherers who have maintained the balance of the tropical forest ecosystems for thousands of years but now want help to create sustainable hunting strategies. Through work with the Nomedjoh community and government representatives, our efforts will protect key wildlife species and accelerate community-level action.
6. New community conservation area for critically endangered titi monkey in Moyobamba, Peru. In Peru, our partners at Neotropical Primate Conservation submitted the registration paperwork for two new community-protected areas. This is a major step forward in expanding the network of community-conserved areas in the Amazon. The expanded network covers a large geographical area to protect the Critically Endangered yellow tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda), the San Martin titi monkey (Plecturocebus oenanthe), and the Endangered Peruvian night monkey (Aotus miconax). Read more about this project.
7. Iban community workshop to identify goals and a vision for their forests in Sarawak, Malaysia
This year through workshops and hands-on fieldwork, our partners in Malaysia, Rose Ragai and the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, worked to involve the local Iban communities in the long-term monitoring of wildlife in their forests. The community forests are near Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, home to one of the largest populations of orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), as well as Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica), bearded pigs (Sus barbatus), and Bornean banded langurs (Presbytis chrysomelas). The community picked conservation goals that focused on providing good habitat for orangutans, selecting tree species to support and shelter hornbills, and a new interest in ecotourism driven by the next generation!
SPREADING Community-based Conservation
These impacts involve sharing stories of community conservation, educating conservation professionals and increasing awareness among the general public.
- Our executive director Dr. Teri Allendorf gave an invited plenary at the joint Societies for Ethnobiology and Ethnobotany conference in Atlanta, GA, in June.
- In order to create a community conservation network in Nepal in collaboration with our partners NCSC and CCN:
- In September we led a two-day Community Conservation Workshop with eight participants, five were students from Tribhuvan University and Kathmandu University and three conservation professionals. The workshop covered the basics of community conservation and had hands-on practice of developing methods to conduct community conservation including initiating relationships, co-designing projects and implementing the projects with communities.
- In April we held a workshop with representatives from 9 other conservation organizations working with communities to conserve biodiversity. We shared experiences and lessons learned and brainstormed ideas for supporting community conservation in Nepal and around the globe.
- Our executive director Dr. Teri Allendorf published a piece in the Nepali Times (18 April 2022) about Protecting Nepal’s parks by saving buffer zones .
- As part of our Community Conservation on Tour, our executive director Dr. Teri Allendorf gave CC’s first post-covid in-person talk at the Valley Stewardship Network speaker series Conservation on Tap, Feb 7, 2023.
- Our executive director Dr. Teri Allendorf participated in an on-line discussion about Collaborative Conservation Action: Participatory techniques to engage stakeholders, Episode 36, July 2022 sponsored by the Centre for Wildlife Studies, India.
- We educated 7,000 people per month about community-based conservation via our website and social media.
- We continued to participate in Prosocial World’s program to scale up best practices among NGOs in Latin American to support global change.
- We launched the Rob Horwich Legacy Fund, which allows donors to support CC thru their wills or other planned giving vehicles. The support of this legacy fund will allow CC to continue to support biodiversity and communities for future generations.
Thank you for your support
We are so grateful to our supporters this year for your ongoing commitment to Community Conservation. Our work with communities is going strong, thanks to you!
We rely on the steady support of donor like you rather than uncertain grant funding. In 2024, we hope you are able to continue your generous support and also please help spread the word about the work of CC to your friends and family.
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