Strategic Planning for Species Conservation: A Handbook - IUCN

Strategic Planning for Species Conservation
Problem analysis first involves asking the workshop participants to review the key threats to
the species or populations concerned. The key threats should have been identified
previously during the Status Review. For a range-wide or regional SCS, the problem
analysis typically concentrates on those threats which are broadly applicable: a minor threat
operating in only one or a few populations in just one range State might be put to one side
at this stage. These key threats should be agreed by the group. One way of doing this
(though by no means the only way) is to ask participants to write each threat clearly and
succinctly on a large index card, with index cards then being displayed to the group on a
wall or board. If multiple species are being considered, it may be helpful to colour-code the
cards, for example, using one colour per species, and another colour for threats that apply
to all or multiple species (see Photos 7.1 and 7.2).
Once key threats have been identified and agreed (usually straightforward as the threats
were identified during the Status Review), participants are then asked to consider
constraints that may hinder achieving the strategy’s Goals. Often these constraints will be
factors which contribute to or compound the threats. For example, lack of political will and
resources might contribute to a lack of law enforcement, leading in turn to over-exploitation.
Likewise, lack of knowledge about a species’ status and biology might lead to setting of
Photo 7.1 Example of using coloured cards to
identify species-specific threats
© R. Woodroffe
In this example, taken from one
working group participating in a
workshop on the conservation of
African wild dogs and cheetahs in
eastern Africa, the yellow cards
indicate threats specific to cheetahs,
the pink cards show threats specific to
wild dogs, and the white cards apply
to both species. A problem tree
incorporating these cards is shown in
Figure 7.1 below.
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Photo 7.2 Participants use coloured cards
© R. Woodroffe
In this example, coloured index cards were
used to highlight threats and constraints
affecting the anoas at a conservation
planning workshop for Asian wild cattle and
buffaloes in Vietnam in 2008.