Emerging World Conservation Leaders [13 Apr 2007]

The course was very informative and I definitely gained a lot from it. We were provided with a lot of information as you can see from the session summary below. I think this has been the most informative training course/workshop that I have ever attended, and am sure I will continue to re-use all the information in the file we were provided with. The sessions were informative, fun and the speakers were fantastic.

We all selected specific projects to work on over the next 2 years. I am on the Okapi project and this closely links me with the DRC project on the ground as well as the White Oak Centre and Howard Gillman Foundation, the sponsors of the DRC project. I am excited about working on this project along with 3 other girls from the US. We have already begun communicating with the Okapi personnel on the ground in DRC and are hoping to assist with the education component of their project.

The White Oak Conservation Centre was an amazing place to hold this course. It is a breeding centre for many rare and endangered species. The first animals I saw when we drove in were white rhino and Grevy zebra (I felt like the previous 35 hours of flying had been a dream after I saw the zebra!). They have many cheetah from Namibia which they then export to a number of zoos in the US. The rhino have been re-introduced back in some places in Africa. They also had Okapi, which I had never seen before. A very interesting looking, giraffe like animal, that only exists in DRC.

Overall, it was a great experience and I am looking forward to returning there in April 2008 for the second session of the EWCL course. A huge thanks to WCN for sponsoring me to attend the course in Florida.

 SESSION SUMMARY

The first training session of the newest Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders (EWCL) class was held April 9th through 13th, 2007, at the White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee, Florida. EWCL is a collaborative project between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Defenders of Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation Network and the Howard Gilman Foundation, designed to build capacity for international conservation of wildlife within existing conservation organizations and entities. This is accomplished by providing training in leadership and campaigning skills, offering networking and mentoring opportunities, and facilitating tangible on-the-ground conservation projects that benefit imperiled wildlife.

The 2007/2008 EWCL class is comprised of twenty-one carefully selected up-and-coming leaders in the wildlife conservation field. Class members include individuals from a wide variety of not-for-profit, private, and government groups, as well as three participants from outside the United States. This group gathered at White Oak for four days of intensive skills and leadership training, as well as mentoring and discussion about their professional choices and future direction.

The training during this session included formal lectures, discussions, and exercises taught by seasoned wildlife conservation professionals as well as trainers in the field of leadership development and personal growth. Session topics included:

• An Introduction to Leadership
• Strategies for Successful Campaigns
• Team Building
• Strategic Advocacy
• Building International Campaigns
• Integrating Media into Campaigns
• Planning for Education and Marketing in Conservation
• Conservation Project Evaluation Techniques
• U.S. Legislative Process
• Role of Social Sciences in Conservation
• Fundraising Skills
• Building Collaborations
• Enhancing Crucial Conversation Skills
• Dealing with Conflict in a Professional Setting

The group was also treated to a presentation by guest speaker Steve Shurter, Director of International Programs for Gilman International Conservation, on White Oak’s Democratic Republic of the Congo Okapi Conservation Project. Additionally, as part of an effort to research possible conservation projects to engage in, participants were able to interview by conference calls several conservation professionals from a variety of organizations.

From these presentations and interviews, the class was able to select four conservation topics that they will address in strategic projects over the next two years using skills acquired through EWCL training. The groups chose to work on the following issues:

• Unsustainable trade of pangolins in Southeast Asia;
• Okapi conservation education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
• Global amphibian decline, and;
• Jaguar recovery in northern Mexico.

In addition to project selection and planning, and training in leadership and campaigning skills, the participants were encouraged to strategize on their career trajectory and opportunities for professional growth. Each participant was given the opportunity to spend one-on-one mentoring time with multiple EWCL Board Members, and all participants received 360 degree leadership evaluations from up to ten colleagues -- the results of which were analyzed and discussed in-depth with each participant.

The training in White Oak is just the beginning for this class. Over the next two years the participants will continue to work on their projects, gather for two more training sessions, and begin numerous opportunities for professional networking and personal growth. The EWCL class of 2007/2008 has already shown tremendous enthusiasm in embracing the challenges and potential of the EWCL opportunity, and many great things are expected of them as they participate in this course and continue to make an impact on wildlife conservation throughout their careers.

The mission of EWCL is to facilitate cross-organizational networking for emerging environmental leaders while conducting training and guiding concrete innovative conservation projects on a bi-annual basis. Wildlife conservation benefits from the nurturing of future leaders, information sharing and idea exchange amongst conservation entities, and the tangible conservation products generated as part of the group campaign exercise.

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