Strategies for building a conservation team

Excerpt

BECAUSE of the variety of activities that can be included in an effective conservation education campaign, it is clear that local resource managers should not try to do everything themselves. Conservation education will be most successful with a team approach (2, 3).

Local conservation professionals should not have to rely solely on their own staff members and economic resources. Using a teamwork approach, resource managers can enlist outside talent, thus broadening the program's support base. A local conservation team should be better able to design and carry out an integrated conservation education campaign. Team members can contribute knowledge, time, talent, and even financial resources to enhance local educational efforts

Team members also can provide information about the needs and interests of farm operators and other target audiences. In this sense, local teams become an ongoing mechanism for public involvement in local program planning and implementation. Education programs are more responsive to local priorities. Influential team members, such as bankers, farm business representatives, and local leaders, help to increase credibility and visibility of conservation efforts.

Most resource managers already work with a number of other groups and organizations. Such existing relationships should form the basis of a conservation team. Teambuilding is an ongoing activity, involving cooperation by individuals for a common purpose. No single set of steps can be followed in all cases. Here are some basic strategies that should help when developing an effective local conservation team (1, 3). …