Preface and acknowledgements

Summary

I have worked in the conservation field for almost 15 years and have found broadly the same problems faced across the sector. Most of my experience is in Africa, especially east and southern Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including my work with the multi-award winning conservation NGO and Earthshot Prize finalist the Pole Pole Foundation to develop a blueprint for national park conservation. However during my doctoral research I have worked with many organizations from other parts of the world and have seen and heard the same problems arising. This book is the result: a strategy developed from the practices that I have found to deliver effective results, combined with learning from projects that have been unsuccessful. Although some readers may feel that there is not much new in this book, I hope the synthesis of a large body of knowledge from the sector into a simplified set of insights and, most importantly, a workable strategy to help bring an end to the illegal wildlife trade, will be welcomed.

I have primarily worked with military and commercial organizations, where the approach is to understand a problem, develop an effective and cost-efficient strategy to solve it, and then task and support well-trained people to deliver that strategy on the ground and in so doing, adapt and overcome the specific challenges faced in that process. This book is designed to be just such a strategic handrail, but it necessarily relies on people being able to execute the strategy effectively. For example, law enforcement requires trained and experienced professionals to be successful, and monetizing nature requires commercially minded people to execute business models, raise revenue, and deliver high-quality products that appeal to the market.

It is this alignment of people and strategy that is key to success in the real world and it is where the environmental sector has often struggled. There are some phenomenal people working in conservation, often at great personal risk, who are poorly paid and under-resourced. Without them the situation would be a great deal worse, but too much of their work is fire-fighting.