Guidance, tools and information for improving the practice of conservation

Conservation by Design helps conservation practitioners determine what to conserve, opportunities to conserve it, what strategies to use and how effective they have been. The Conservation by Design Gateway provides guidance, tools, resources and case studies that support the approach and methods within Conservation by Design. The Gateway offers opportunities to participate in discussion and submit content to enhance the resources.

These tools are available for all those who wish to effect conservation change in their countries or communities. National governments, state agencies and other non-profit conservation groups can use and adapt this conservation approach to plan for and carry out their own conservation projects, resulting in conservation on a large scale.
See list at right.

Conservation by Design:
An integrated and adaptive approach

Conservation by Design provides an integrated approach that establishes conservation goals, guides actions, and directs resources to gain the greatest conservation results. It is an iterative and adaptive approach that operates at multiple scales, from local to global, and has been successfully employed in a diversity of geographic and cultural settings.

The basic concepts of Conservation by Design are reflected in each of three key analytical methods, which include Major Habitat Assessment (see global science), Ecoregional Assessment and Conservation Action Planning. In general, Major Habitat and Ecoregional Assessments focus on setting goals and priorities, Conservation Action Planning focuses on developing and implementing strategies to address the priorities and achieve the goals, and all three methods incorporate aspects of measuring results. In addition to serving as the Conservancy’s strategic framework for mission success, Conservation by Design also supports the protected area management goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

This approach and the methods to implement it allow the practitioner community to share experience and learning across geographies and to improve our conservation practices over time. Visit nature.org/cbd for more information on Conservation by Design, or .

The Conservation by Design brochure is also available in , and .

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What's New

Read four new stories on . (April 10)

Looking for ? We have a page for that! (March 10)

Nueva página con los . (Dec 09)

Annotated bibilography of selected (Dec 09)

Measures Podcasts - (Nov 09)

Measures Working Paper #2 Now Available : (July 09)

 A wealth of new materials on Strategy Effectiveness Measures and Miradi are available in the Measures section (Apr 09)

We are developing a business plan for the expansion of the Gateway.  (Feb 09)

Check out the Gateway Calendar for training opportunities on the CAP Workbook, Miradi and ConPro. (Dec 08)

ConPro is now available to the public. (Oct 08)