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Conservation partner hub
Resources for partners that work with Fauna & Flora
Conservation action is most effective and enduring when it is driven by those living closest to nature. Fauna & Flora works collaboratively with in-country partners to support, sustain and strengthen local nature conservation. This locally-led approach is designed to achieve maximum global impact.
Experience tells us that local people and organisations have the best understanding of the threats to the biodiversity on their doorsteps, including the social, cultural and economic context. Given enough support, they are also the ones best placed to tackle those threats. Fauna & Flora pioneered the capacity-building concept – in essence, putting conservation in local hands – which is now considered standard practice.
Tailor-made support
We choose our in-country partners carefully, not least because we are committed to working with them for as long as it takes to achieve our shared conservation goals. But it is our partners who define the terms of the relationship. This ensures that we give them the kind of support they need, rather than offering a standard solution that may not fit the local context.
Our support takes many forms. Strategic advice. Practical training. Organisational development. Help with fundraising or networking. The list is as varied as the partners we work with. They include local NGOs, community-based organisations (CBOs), Indigenous People’s organisations, government bodies and social enterprises.
Partnership is a two-way street. Both sides bring complementary skills and experience, and learn from each other.
© Biometepe / Fauna & Flora
Fauna & Flora's in-country partner Biometepe conducting community-led yellow-naped parrot monitoring on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua.
Core partners
We have been working with many of our in-country partners for years and, in some cases, decades. And we view every new partnership as the start of a deep, long-term collaboration. Our shared vision for our core partners, new and old, is that they will sooner or later be able to operate autonomously. To achieve financial independence. To lead and influence conservation work more widely. To pass on their expertise and knowledge to others.
Once our direct support is no longer needed, we take a step back. But we remain ready to offer a helping hand. To amplify their voice. To influence policies that affect their work. To encourage the flow of global funding to the grass roots.
Partner profile: Ya’axché Conservation Trust, Belize
Fauna & Flora’s partner in Belize, Ya’axché Conservation Trust, began as a handful of environmentally conscious individuals. With our support, it has grown into a flourishing and nationally recognised leader in conservation and sustainable development. It owns and manages the Golden Stream Corridor Preserve, a tropical forest jewel that Fauna & Flora helped save from destruction. In 2008 the Belize government invited Ya’axché to co-manage the 40,000-hectare Bladen Reserve, one of the most biologically rich areas in Central America. Four years later Ya’axché’s then Executive Director, Lisel Alamilla, was appointed as Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Sustainable Development, giving conservation a voice at government level in Belize.
Today Ya’axché influences the conservation management of an area exceeding one million hectares across the Maya Golden Landscape and beyond.
© Maximiliano Caal
Ya’axché field staff setting up camera traps in Maya Mountain North Forest Reserve, Belize.
Ya’axché has been extremely fortunate to have a partner such as Fauna & Flora. Ya’axché was granted numerous opportunities over the years to build the capacity of staff through training in proposal development, strategic planning and the Conservation Leadership Programme. This has led Ya’axché to grow even bigger and become more competent in its strides to accomplish its conservation goals and objectives in the Maya Golden Landscape and wider Belize. The assistance Fauna & Flora has given Ya’axché has allowed us to grow in strength, resilience, influence and impact, leading us to now being considered the most successful NGO in Belize.
Christina Garcia
Executive Director, Ya’axché
Underwater clean-up Gökova Bay, Türkiye. © Akdeniz Koruma Derneği
Fauna & Flora's in-country partner AKD undertaking a marine litter clean-up in Gökova Bay, Türkiye.
Partner profile: Akdeniz Koruma Derneği, Türkiye
In 2010, Türkiye established its first no-fishing zones in Gökova Bay, covering 2,700 hectares of marine habitat. However, illegal fishing activity remained high because of limited management. In 2012, the newly established Akdeniz Koruma Derneği (AKD) connected with Fauna & Flora and began a journey that has changed the design and delivery of marine conservation in the country.
Focusing initially on Gökova Bay, AKD and Fauna & Flora have demonstrated that a well-managed marine protected area can be extremely effective in delivering benefits for the ocean, for threatened species and for small-scale fishers. Just as importantly, this has showcased Fauna & Flora’s partnership approach with local organisations and how this helps them to flourish. Pairing our organisational capacity support and broader international experience with AKD’s technical and implementation expertise has achieved real impact. Effective management of 12 local no-take zones has been established, fish numbers have increased, flagship species (including the endangered Mediterranean monk seal) have returned, and income for local fishers has increased.
Our mutually beneficial partnership, founded on open communication and tailored support, has seen significant conservation gains. AKD is a thriving and growing organisation and has expanded its focus to include policy influence, behaviour change and marine restoration. AKD’s work is now held in high esteem by officials in Türkiye, and in 2022 the government decided to apply a similar approach across an additional 6,000 hectares of marine habitat.
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Nurturing our partners
Learn more about how we work with our partner organisations to support them in sustaining their conservation activities ...
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Conservation Leadership Programme
For well over 30 years, the Conservation Leadership Programme has been at the forefront of efforts to identify, support ...
Saving nature, together
You can help fund conservation powered by sustainable partnership.
If you represent a charitable trust or foundation and would like to talk to a member of our team, contact [email protected].
If you would like to support us immediately, consider donating today.
Donate todayFauna & Flora partner Fundação Príncipe monitoring Príncipe thrush habitat. Príncipe island is home to at least eight bird species that occur nowhere else in the world. © Vasco Pissarra / Fundação Príncipe