In the best-case scenario, conserving one small corner of the planet has far-reaching consequences. Usually, the biggest impacts come from the congresses and parliaments that create the legal and political foundation for how conservation is practiced and implemented. Perhaps less glamorous, a national law built upon conservation science can open the door to entire protected area networks or changed practices that affect every corner of the environment. The pen can be mightier than the chainsaw.
Helping shape international policies is a natural extension of our work. Every day, CI staff is on the ground in 28 countries building personal relationships with local people empowered to enact change. As a result, we’re invited to the table when local, regional, and national leaders need guidance crafting environmentally friendly policies. We’re at the ready to help them make responsible choices.
Our Center for Conservation and Government (CCG) guides those efforts, whether teaming up with community leaders on the tiny islands of Raja Ampat or world leaders at the United Nations.
Locally, we might advocate strengthening fishing regulations or bolstering law enforcement efforts in national parks. Regionally, we help write sustainable practices into law and facilitate policy discussions about issues like biofuels crop production. Nationally, we dream up development alternatives to large-scale infrastructure investments and help forest-rich nations recognize the role their trees play in climate change. Internationally, we work with a community of nations to change how we use and protect our planet.
The sky is the limit. We advocate efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strive to influence international policy crafted by the United Nations. We’ve made convincing arguments to include incentives for preventing forest destruction in the Kyoto Protocol. Today we’re working hard to make sure those incentives don’t get omitted again.
When the presidents of the Philippines, Madagascar, and Liberia recently signed new environmental protections into law, CI was standing close by – resulting in some of the most visionary approaches to conservation we’ve ever seen. We are a partner and a friend to savvy, forward-thinking leaders around the world.