For Defensores del Chaco [Protectors of Chaco], information and communication technologies are now a fundamental part of the fight against climate change and the sustainability of the planet.

Defensores del Chaco has a team of committed young people with creative skills. They use the latest technological tools to produce quality content, prioritizing what should be communicated and using the tools to create content and achieve calls to action. 

The products they produce involve the: 

1. Creation of a video
2. The preparation of a flyer

Volunteers are strongly involved in communication processes to seek changes in society, thereby fulfilling four functions: informing, persuading, entertaining and educating.

Communication work is crucial for society to find out about and value natural resources, in order to increase environmental education and awareness and to contribute to a better conservation of natural areas.

Participating in the IUCN Shared Resources, Joint Programme's capacity-building for civil society on business engagement helped the NGOs increase their chances of success, but also to connect with other NGOs at the event. The training included advocacy, building trust with the company, designing a good business engagement approach and engaging with a company in a convivial way while staying true to principles. Through this training, IUCN provided their existing contact with a key person in the company to the implementing NGOs, which further reinforced their engagement. 

 The government of Bangladesh manages its artisanal hilsa fishery through a number of different regulatory measures, most of which focus on protecting juvenile fish:

1. Hilsa fishing is banned throughout the country during the perceived peak breeding season (22 days in October), with the aim of minimising disturbance to spawning and recruitment. Enforcement is focused on areas known to be important spawning grounds.
2. There is an eight-month nationwide ban on capture, possession, selling and transport of juvenile hilsa (fry less than 25 cm long) between November and July to maximise recruitment of juveniles to the fishery. Enforcement is focused on 7,000 square kilometres of coastal, estuarine and riverine areas. 
3. There is a year-round ban on use and production of monofilament gillnets, again for the protection of juvenile hilsa. 
4. Six hilsa sanctuaries have been designated to protect major hilsa nursery grounds. These sanctuaries range from 20-100 km sections of river. All fishing is banned for at least 2 months in these areas during their peak periods of juvenile presence.

A ‘mobile court’ team operates at the subdistrict level to enforce these regulations, with support from the police and other agencies.

Institutional arrangements and identification for implementation of policies plays a vital role in acheiving abjectives. With a huge playing field of stakeholders and actors to be chosen from, proper assessment and identification of agencies whose deliverables capabilities cannt be questioned in a much desired task. Keeping this in mind, various agencies from different level of governance and organisations have been identified agaisnt each of the 12 deliverable Targets Set.

Biodiversity and its resources are the backbone of any rural economics, whose population is directly dependent on it. Urban economics too has a plethora of activities with direct linkages to biological resources. In other words, each and every activity is in a way or another, related to the usage and management of it. Identification of each and every stakeholder doesn't seem a feasible option as all are a party to it.  It was therefore implied that those related to policy decisions and governance would be the apt group for consultative processes and thus was followed.

             The key feature in preparing this document and for effective implementation is the involvement of interdisciplinary working groups/different stakeholders - Government Agencies, Experts, NGOs, traditional institutions, educational and research institutes and local communities concerned with biodiversity

During seasonal fishing bans, the government distributes sacks of rice to a proportion (around 248,674) of affected households across 15 districts. The scheme was introduced in 2004, with the primary goal of reducing food insecurity and vulnerability, but it also provides an incentive for compliance with fishing regulations, by compensating for income foregone during fishing bans. Based on research led by the International Institute for Environment and Development in partnership with the Bangladesh government's Department of Fisheries, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute and Bangladesh Agricultural University, the scheme has been expanded and redesigned to enhance its effectiveness as an economic incentive. Coverage of affected households has increased by more than seven times since the scheme began, and families now receive 40kg of rice per month for four months, as opposed to the initial 10kg for one to three months. Instances of rice misallocation have also been reduced through the introduction of ID cards for fishers.

‘When you eat around a fire after a day of working together building fire-breaks, you realise we all have the same problems’.

In a context of limited resources, accommodating different livelihood practices (pastoralism, agriculture) that often come into conflict requires dialogue starting at the base. This is why the project acts as facilitator to help bring together the diverse clans and ethnicities of the elephant range to achieve unity towards a common goal – in this case the preservation of their natural resources and the regeneration of their ecosystem.

By coming together to address an environmental challenge communities benefit on multiple levels, which incentives them to collaborate further. The result is an altogether more resilient solution that is bigger than the sum of its parts. Benefits include healthier habitats; more abundant natural resources; increased food security and resilience in the face of adverse events; additional income; social empowerment incl. for women and youths; better social cohesion between and within communities; increased physical security as youths are provided with a locally respected occupations as ‘eco-guards’, which reduces the likelihood of them emigrating or joining armed groups; pride in their ability to contribute to their household and community, and exert some agency over their lives.

The project’s approach to community engagement is always to listen first, understand local problems and preoccupations, and discuss the issue of elephants within this context. Recognising all perspectives and developing a common perspective of the problem is a key first step. Identifying the parameters of the problem and the common vision is the next step. By then, asking communities to devise a solution, with the MEP as a stakeholder, builds their trust and imparts ownership, thereby fostering sustainability.

It implies a lot of unknowns, requires flexibility and a readiness to learn, but means that initiatives are a lot more likely to succeed because they rely on existing local knowledge and knowhow, and are automatically validated and adopted by participants from the start, essential elements to building locally adapted and therefore robust/resilient solutions.

The process involves the active participation of the communes’ mayors and the government’s technical services, whose role is to support communities in the implementation of local initiatives and their integration with commune development plans. All have to demonstrate their commitment if project activities are to go ahead. This strengthens local governance by empowering all stakeholders to take responsibility for the management of their natural resources together.

Eco-tourism can be an effective tool for generating income for conservation and rasing the profile of conservation programmes in protected areas. Developing eco-tourism attractions such as hiking trails and interpretive programmes in protected areas allows people to access places which would be otherwise inaccessible. It allows people a chance to appreciate the environment and become supporters of conservation. It also provides conservation programmes with a new source of sustainable funding.