Collaborating and co-operating with local governments and organisations who share a common vision and common goals, yields enhanced results with greater efficiency, both in terms of resources used and funds deployed.

The first step is to identify partners with common goals but with varying strengths to achieve enhanced results. Time then needs to be taken to meet regularly, whereby relationships are developed and nurtured, to gain a deeper understanding of individual needs and to review and update procedures to ensure resources are shared and that strengths are being maximized.

Specific algorithms process the GPS data on position, altitude, speed and temperature and consider all zonation as poisoning-prone areas (based on land use for grazing and previous events) to determine if alert is necessary.  

Algorithms need to rule out vulture descending onto a cliff or nest, and to include only descent onto areas where carcass likelihood is highest (based on ground inclination).

Algorithm calculates slope of the land at point of descent and adds this to the poisoning likelihood determination.

• Integration of data on position, altitude, speed, and temperature from Orintela transmitters with the INPA information system 

In order to receive GPS data there have to be a requisite numner of birds with approriate tags that transmit real-time data.

Engagement of 500 private forest owners to set aside 6000 hectares for conservation of chimpanzee corridors

The purpose of this strategy is to build ties between neighbors and volunteers interested in participating in the construction, management and maintenance activities of the linear greenbelt trail and associated areas.

Meetings and fellowship opportunities were held to share ideas as well as information on:

• Procedures for reporting environmental incidents in the area.
• Techniques for reforestation and pruning of native plants.
• Characteristics and importance of native plants in the region.

Neighbors were invited to form a group through whatsapp to keep them informed and invite them to activities.

Our project is based on the premise that farmers want sustainability and are incentivised to achieve this. No farming operation will be viable in the long run unless it is done in an ecologically and economically responsible manner. Climate change has led to an increased frequency of drought, as well as an increased severity of drought in the western regions of South Africa. Stocking rates are effectively falling as a result of climate change, and this necessitates the need for farmers to diversify income in order to survive. Failure to change will have a devastating impact on biodiversity.

We are incentivising farmers to protect biodiversity through the adoption of more sustainable farming practices, e.g. grazing rest, correct stocking rates and habitat restoration activities. While these lead to fewer, but better quality animals, the farmer still experiences a loss of income. We help the farmer compensate for this through the adoption of non-farming activities such as ecotourism.

Through continual engagement with the farmer, we are able to address concerns as they are raised and ensure that the farmer perceives active engagement in the partnership as an incentive to improve his farming operation.

In South Arica we are fortunate to have a very progressive legislative programme for conservation on private land. The Biodiversity Stewardship framework allows for the voluntary declaration of private lands into the protected areas network following a clearly defined process.  As the process is well established, it is relatively easy to implement it and commitments are well understood. However, governmental conservation agencies have constraints on their capacity and rely on NGOs such as the EWT, to facilitate the process of identifying suitable properties, engaging with willing farmers and/or landowners, and developing the associated tools such as the farm management plan and annual plans of operation.

Landowners sign an agreement with the provincial conservation authorities formalising the declaration into the title deed of the property. This framework largely results in a win-win as biodiversity is conserved, the country is better able to meet its conservation goals in terms of multi-lateral agreements, and the farmer has a more sustainable farming operation to support his livelihood. Subsidiary benefits can be accrued to local communities through entrepreneurship opportunities. To pursue our conservation exchange, we merged this framework with other agreements between the farmer and the EWT.

To ensure that local benefits are tied to wildlife presence, the first step is enabling communities to monitor wildlife on their land. Each village selects two 'community camera-trapping officers' who are trained and employed to use camera-traps, which they place at what they think are the most wildlife-rich areas of their villages. Camera-traps are checked every month and images shown in the village to raise awareness.

In Panama, farms are culturally extensive and without good livestock practices. The management plans that Yaguará Panama seeks to support producers in having a better sustainable use of the land, under intensive management so that the paddocks are small (with more small keepers they walk less and feed better, without spending a lot of energy) and the animals are healthy and in better condition. In the case of cows with calves, a corral is prepared to reduce predation, since we know that the most vulnerable animals are the cows with calves.

Anti-predation measures include: electric fences powered by a solar panel, collars with bells for the cows as an auditory and luminous repellent because they have lights that are activated at night.

The plans have a map of current and future use so that the producer can appreciate the changes and is taught to keep track of what is happening on the farm, only in this way will he be able to see how the changes are occurring and at what point he begins to have a real gain in livestock production.

An important change is that now the paddocks have water for the animals to drink; usually they do not and when the cows go to the river they get stuck or are preyed upon by jaguars.