As a strategy of connection and contribution of the citizenship, because in the first edition (2013) We were able to finance all expenses, a conservation fund was generated from the collection of the cost of the registration of the event, the fund was delivered to the Promoter Group CPY and it was invested in conservation actions and sustainable use of the territory, with the fund was bought trap cameras for monitoring biodiversity.
This proposal was not sustainable for following editions, due to the considerable increase of the participation and the associated costs, currently we use the fee of the registrations to complete the event financing.

Governance
Over the years, Lewa has set up an elaborate and effective governance and management structure, which has greatly contributed to the organisation's effectiveness and efficiency. The Conservancy is headed by a board of directors with a well stipulated mandate, which is to drive Lewa's strategy through the management team. This has ensured that Lewa has the right strategic direction and practices accountability to stakeholders and beneficiaries. The communities working with Lewa are clustered within their geographic locations, and each one has a development committee, a platform for the communities to identify, discuss and agree on their needs, which then, together with the Lewa team, are prioritised.  

Management

Lewa's management is informed by its Strategic Plan updated every 5 years. The Plan is aligned to national and local conservation and livehood goals. It is prepared consultatively with our stakeholders through participatory planning. Implementation is through various departments, supported by a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework. Additionally, we have the Lewa Standard, a set of ethos and principles that ensures the Conservancy is managed to the highest standards in the context of defined objectives.

Most conservation organisations cannot flourish in isolation. For us, we recognise the importance of establishing mutually beneficial partnerships that cut across national and county governments, local and international conservation and research agencies, as well as individual and institutional philanthropic organisations. In our landscape, partnerships have enabled us to scale the impact of our work across northern Kenya and beyond. Together with our partners, we have been able to connect wildlife landscapes previously isolated by human activities, protect wildlife beyond our borders, as well as participate in the formulation and implementation of strategies for the conservation of key species. We mainly establish partnerships that wil directly feed into our strategic goals or where we find we will add the greatest value. However, for the local and national government partnships, these are a must institutions as our work feeds directli into the national goals. Among others, our partnerships are maintained through implementing joint action plans, joint planning and implementation meetings, face to face meetings, publicacations etc.

We work with local communities to make our conservation efforts inclusive, participatory and beneficial to their livelihoods. This is in recognition that conservation can only be successful and sustainable if there is participation from the local people, where their views and thoughts are integrated into the planning and execution process.

Each community surrounding Lewa has a development committee that is linked to the community development programme here on Lewa. Through these committees, we are able to establish what the communities' greatest needs are, how we can help to best address them, and how conservation can generally uplift their livelihoods. As a result, we continue to enjoy a close working relationship with our neighbours, in recognition that the future for both people and wildlife in this ecosystem are intertwined.

Multilevel and multisectorial governance for adaptation implies working at multiple levels and with differente sectors. It requires creating connections for better articulation between territorial actors.

In the upper part of the Sumpul River sub-basin, this entailed working closely with grassroots (community-based) organizations to develop bottom up water resource management. This was done supporting the conformation of  Water Committees linked with Community Development Associations (ADESCOs), the Municipalities and the Binational Community Committee.

The capacities of 4 Water Committees and their supply systems were strengthened and were thereafter formalized under municipal governance.

Moreover, and following the multilevel governance approach, the Binational Community Committe was strengthened throught restructuring advice, trainings, new management tools, and greater links with municipal governments. This Committee is now leading community water issues to prevent conflicts around water use.

The private sector is commonly described as being blind to environmental issues. The reality, however, is that the private sector is heavily invested in biodiversity. The project was an opportunity for companies to deepen their understanding of environmental issues and to develop the corporate habit of thinking beyond the bottom line. Less obviously, it is an opportunity for environmental specialists to deepen their understanding of business and development dynamics and to learn to include bottom line analysis in their own evaluations.

The Naturland standard requires each farm to have at least 50% mangrove cover while other organic standards require strict compliance with forest policy. Farmers who can demonstrate compliance then have the option of selling their certified shrimp to the Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, Viet Nam’s largest shrimp exporter.

The project also successfully supported Cà Mau in piloting a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) system. This system provides an incentive for mangrove conservation and restoration by paying farmers an additional 500,000 VND (£17.77) per hectare of mangrove for providing ecosystem services.

Besides payments for farmers, Minh Phu also invested in its own ICS team, a supply chain from farm to factory, and financial incentives for collectors, collecting stations, and payments to support the FMB with monitoring.

In this PES system, the processor pays the farmers for the ecosystem goods and services they provide, and mangrove cover is monitored by a third-party. This direct payment approach has been accepted by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The project has also encouraged other processing companies to establish their organic farming area with different payment schemes, these companies include Seanamico, Seaprimexco in Ca Mau.

Community buy in to the concept of transforming savings and loan groups into social infrastructures actively supporting conservation initiatives is built on their understanding of their role in the conservation of their resources. Generally, community members should gain knowledge on the current state of the marine environment, the urgent need to protect and conserve the marine resources, the gaps and challenges of existing conservation efforts, and the importance of strong and consistent community support.

The provincial government of the state of Maharashtra in India, acting on the orders of the court, created a dedicated body in January 2012, to protect and conserve mangrove forests in the state. The dedicated unit, called the Mangrove Cell, started functioning as a part of the state level administrative body responsible for conservation of forests and wildlife. Considering the high level of encroachment in the mangrove areas, pressures of land conversion for real estate and industrial projects, and other anthropogenic factors, the government accorded the highest level of protection to mangrove forests by declaring them as “Reserved Forests”. Further, the Cell was empowered as per the statutory laws governing the management of forest resources in the country. Provisions were also made to engage field level personnel to safeguard these forests. With almost a third of the mangrove forests in the state falling within one of the most populated metropolises of the world, Mumbai¸ a specialised unit was formed to check and prevent incidences of encroachment and mangrove destruction within and around the city. Along with protection of mangrove forests, the Mangrove Cell is also responsible for conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems in the state of Maharashtra.

Forests For Life is an environmental conservation movement/network that envisions the restoration of Philippine rainforests using native tree species with support from various sectors. It began as a movement called ROAD to 2020, which worked with communities, local government units, indigenous peoples, academe, like-minded groups and the youth to bring back the lost forests. Through the movement, Haribon was able to empower local communities, build native tree nurseries, provide guidance in establishing conservation areas, influence policies, organize tree planting drives and encourage the public to take part in citizen science. To date, 13,416 Volunteers and 14 community partners in 30 Municipalities have been mobilized, which significantly shows raised awareness on biodiversity.