Working with local communities in the buffer zones of Pu Mat National Park is one of SVW’s main focuses, in order to raise awareness, reduce their impacts on forest resources, and inspire them to protect wildlife. We utilise diverse approaches to implement different programs, from holding community engagement workshops and training, placing large billboards around the buffer zones and using self-sustained education outreach tools to encourage local people to take informed actions to protect wildlife.

Raising awareness and educating the community, especially children in the buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park is one of SVW's long-term strategies that aims at forming a future generation with positive attitudes and behaviours towards wildlife while reducing unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. Our program "Join me to protect Pu Mat forests'” is aligned with the environmental education curriculum at schools carried out by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training, as well as general policies of the government in the field of nature conservation and wildlife management. More than 4,500 primary and secondary students in the buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park were engaged in this program, gaining more knowledge, and proudly contributing to the protection of Pu Mat National Park when possible. Visual posters, handbooks, and other materials were distributed to schools to continue spreading the word of conservation.

The agreements are aimed at preserving the integrity of the SFFG, through the release of transformed areas and the implementation of active and passive restoration processes, in order to achieve the recovery of degraded land cover and contribute to the maintenance of natural areas and the good living of the community.

To achieve the implementation of the ecological restoration agreements, it was necessary to carry out out outreach activities and socialization of the process with the 23 prioritized peasant families and also to collect information according to the guidelines of participatory ecological restoration, which allowed the construction of the technical annexes and the content of the agreements.

Its purpose is to involve local communities in the restoration process, depending on the socioeconomic environment prevailing in the area, with special attention to the aspirations of local communities in terms of the future they want for the space they inhabit. Therefore, in the implementation of the restoration strategy, local communities made up of children, youth and adults were involved in activities such as:

(i) Identification of the areas to be restored.

ii) Construction of community nurseries for the propagation of high Andean forest species. iii) Participation in the implementation of isolation in areas under pressure from agricultural activities, in order to encourage the use of the region's own natural resources that contribute to valuing the existing biodiversity and ensure the long-term continuity of the project, taking into account the important knowledge that the community has about their region, its history of use, the location of the species and in some cases their propagation.

The purpose of identifying the areas to be restored is to determine the number of hectares in which active restoration actions should be implemented (which consists of direct human intervention on the structure and characteristics of the degraded ecosystem, in order to replace, rehabilitate or restore it to ensure the existence of a structured and functional ecosystem) and passive restoration (focused on eliminating or minimizing the disturbances causing the degradation, leaving the degraded ecosystem to recover its structure and functionality by itself).This process was carried out through the methodology of observation and participatory research, which consists of making field trips with some members of the community, to take geo-reference points with the GPS, to subsequently build the polygons and calculate the area to be restored, which comprises 196.2 hectares. Parallel to this activity, a diagnosis of the conservation status and composition of the plant species present in the area is made to determine the degree of intervention to which the ecosystem has been subjected and thus make the decision on what type of restoration will be implemented.

From the conception of the PREDICT project through to today’s day-to-day laboratory management, partners working effectively across sectors has been an essential building block. The PREDICT project brought conservation and health nonprofits and Malaysian federal and local government departments together to collaborate on zoonotic disease surveillance. Over the last 10 years the WHGFL has been able to expand into new surveillance, genetic, and forensic research as capacity is built through open and productive collaboration. The Sabah Wildlife Department has scaled up their involvement increasing their funding for the WHGFL each year and leading the management committee. The management committee ensures the multiple projects utilizing the small laboratory are coordinated and organized, especially as new projects come on board and the scope of work expands.

Lack of awareness due to poor sensitization is often the main reason for little understanding of environmental issues. Sharing proper information supported by valid scientific/practical proof will convince communities that are unfortunately less educated, economically deprived and directly forest dependent. Equip them not only with true information but also with tools such as camera trapping, and support for species identification and naming. Such an approach will develop a sense of belonging and inculcate ownership of the cause/purpose.

Each village is known to have a distinct set of rules and functions for social coexistence. The village community is composed of various groups that function independently to manage certain areas for their welfare in the community. However, for a common cause such as Biodiversity Conservation initiatives, these various institutions can be converged and function as a single entity.

Scientists are often criticised for their inability to communicate research expeditions and outcomes to public audiences, both in the nations where they operate and also internationally. Nekton was founded on the principle of bringing science and story-telling together to amplify host nation scientists as leading voices and ambassadors. During the expedition, the first descents were undertaken by Seychellois scientists. Through partnership with Seychellois media, content was produced, published and broadcast within Seychelles. In partnership with Associated Press and Sky, content from the expedition was published and broadcast in 140 countries globally including 18,000 articles (in print and digital) and over 4000 video broadcast packages. These included the first live subsea documentary series, newscasts and Presidential Address by the President of Seychelles, Danny Faure.

Historically, expeditions and science research have had a reputation of taking a top-down approach including through the practice of ‘parachute science’. This includes the desire to collect numerous and diverse samples and data that is then stored outside the reach of host-nation countries. This is often especially true for research in countries that are under-resourced and can be influenced by, and / or directed by, scientists from other nations that can have more resources. As part of the co-production philosophy, we wanted to ensure that the host-nation, Seychelles, had complete authority over the data and samples collected. Together with the Government of Seychelles, we co-drafted an array of agreements that ensured that both the samples and the data was fully owned by Seychelles.