Engaging Local Business/Industry in Species at Risk Recovery/Protection

Also, I would be very happy to hear your experiences regarding business engagement, specifically:
-How did you make initial contact with the business owners in the area of interest?

>>In our case, the area of interest was improving the community by mitigating stormwater runoff into area lakes (flooding) and streams via the installation of community rain gardens. A by-product of this is increasing bio-diversity with native (mosquito-eating) birds, butterflies and other beneficial insects.

Did you have a prepared survey or question list for the initial contact?

>>Initial contact question was: would you like to participate in this community-benefiting project?

- Is there a specific method of communication you find effective for discussing species at risk?

>>Bio-diversity is best understood when associated with mitigating other social/environmental/economic costs.

- How were you able to determine business needs and attitudes?

>>By their level of participation in the project: most often manifest in some form of in-kind participation.

- What motivators or incentives did you use to create buy in?

>>Good publicity for the business!

Thank you very much for your time!

Rebecca D
Aquatic Biologist
Canada

Sure,

Ellen Rulseh
President
Earth Water Works, LLC
United States
www.earthwaterworks.com

Hi Rebecca:

We have been involved in a number of initiatives related to SAR recovery implementation and most of them focus on public/private sector parterships. Some broad lessons learned:

(1) few companies undertake stewardship / outreach without some sort of benefit;
(2) participating in SAR recovery work, directly or indirectly, can be 'sold' as a new way of corporate marketing.
(3) messaging the importance of being stewards both at a local, regional, and even national level (international in some instances) is something that is important to some companies and less so to others, but the ability to 'package' this and to promote the company in a positive light will appeal to any and all even remotely progressive company.
(4) Making the connections between site-specific SAR recovery / stewardship work and broader biodiversity trends, not to mention connecting to related agency / NGO initiatives can be beneficial and focusing on relationship building and enhancement
(5) in some instances highlighting international trends and discussions (e.g. natural capital; economics and ecosystems; etc) leading to CBD 2010 may be beneficial
(6) profiling any stewardship work within the immediate community and also to key industry organizations/conferences can be very effective. Nothing like good news/positive feedback to 'peer organizations' to motivate a company (and others!) to go beyond the norm

Best of luck

Kate

Kate Hayes
Savanta Inc.
Canada

Hi rebecca,
a bif retailer in australia Woolworths propoesd a supermarket for a small regional twon Melany, the residenst were not in favour and conducted a lenghty battle. they diidnt stop the development but i belive they extracted some environmental rehabiltaion concesiions on the nearby creek.
see http://www.malenyvoice.com/ that may have some contacts you can liase with.
Good luck

micheal bingham
Environmental Ofiicer Capital works
Byron Shire Council
Australia

Hi Rebecca, Ellen and Kate
Check out
www.watershedwealth.com
ttyl,
MB

Michelle Boshard
Canada

Hi Ellen, Kate, Micheal and Michelle

Thank you all very much for taking the time to respond to my post! You've all given me new areas to investigate further.

Thanks again,
Rebecca

Rebecca D
Aquatic Biologist

Rebecca,

I manage an environmental stewardship program for a large corporation and it is my personal passion so I would be glad to share my insights with you.

Kate Hayes provided some good suggestions - I would add that with limited resources and plenty of good will opportunities out there, if you can add to the list a tangible business benefit (license to operate, avoid future restrictions, minimize risk, create business opportunity, etc.) on top of the goodwill, PR/reputation and potential partnership benefits, your proposal may get more attention. There are many that want business to help their goodwill cause, but not many try to understand the business, especially challenges it faces (varies) and how they can help the business with one or more of its objectives.

Here are additional thoughts and resources that may be useful to you:

1. www.gemi.org - see the Corporate-NGO Guide to Successful Partnerships booklet developed by GEMI and Environmental Defense Fund, including specific case exaples which highlight key success factors, business benefits and social and env. benefits.

2. The core of of the external portion of the program I manage now is encompassed within a partnership we have with the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) - www.nfwf.org - two grant programs focus on specific bird & habitat restoration, longleaf pine ecosystem restoration - this includes a focus on some at risk species and involves some public-private partner efforts. We also are part of an existing national effort with EPA, NFWF, Wildlife Habitat Council and National Association of Counties, sponsoring community-based wetland/riparian/coastal restoration and education in our region (recently several other companies have joined that effort). It may give you insight into how to involve local business. Depending on what measures you are trying to accomplish to help the at risk aquatic species, there may be example 5 star projects that have been funded in years past that may be directly relevant - all of the 5 star partners mentioned have links to past project abstracts/grantees. Further, WHC (www.wildifehc.org) is a nonprofit that works specifically with companies on wildife and habitat projects - top story on thier site is a new MOU with Widlife Habitat Canada!

I consider NFWF to be experts on taking a strategic business approach to conservation and in implementing successful public-private partnerships - they help companies partner with many government and nongovernment groups. They have many corporate partnerships and gare successful because they marry business needs and interests with their wildlife and habitat conservation objectives. They have a portfolio of excellent efforts with government, NGOs and corporations that deliver tangible, on-the-ground results.

One 'big box' partnership they have is 'Acres for America', an initiative they launched with Wal-Mart. You can look at specific grant programs on their site s and often find some of what motivated the companies to participate.

3. Our partnerships with NFWF led to increased efforts to address at-risk species on our own corporate lands, including adding a Safe Harbor agreement at one site for red-cockaded woodpeckers (managing land for longleaf habitat). The Safe Harbor concept, developed by Environmental Defense Fund and USFWS to provide a win-win scenario for endangered species and private landowners. Specifically it is designed to encourage private landowners to restore and maintain habitat for endangered species without fear of incurring additional regulatory restrictions. See Environmental Defense Fund www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=87 or USFWS sites for more on these two concepts. And here's a paper EDF did specifically about safe harbor in relation to aquatic resources: http://www.edf.org/documents/840_aquaticSH.PDF

I have specific experience and examples from my current role and past employment(from government side, working on community-based env protection efforts). You are welcome to contact me if you would like to discuss your questions in more detail or if you need a contact person at NFWF.

Regards, Leslie
[email protected]

Leslie Montgomery
Southern Company
United States

Dear Leslie,

Thank you very much for your detailed response. I can truly see stewardship is your passion :)

The resources you suggested have been very helpful and given me a great deal to look over. I hope to contact you in the future once I have formulated my next round of questions.

Thank you again I greatly appreciate your time and insight.

Rebecca


Rebecca D
Aquatic Biologist