There is a five-tiered process to becoming a WHS.

1. An initial online application that ensures there are no fundamental prohibitive issues. 

2. A candidacy review of the initial application is carried out by impartial representatives.

3. Technical advice to discuss and advise on areas for improvement and on how to submit an application with the greatest chance of success.

4. Final application including supporting evidence, a justification for the geographical delineation of the site and a detailed explanation of how the site achieves each of the criteria. 

5. If successful, Whale Heritage Site (WHS) designation. It must then prepare and submit annual reports explaining how criteria are met.

By going through the accreditation process, The Bluff had to show that they could ensure responsible, sustainable practices and livelihoods would be continually improved thus ensuring the health and welfare of whales, dolphins and porpoises and their ocean habitats. 

The building block is built on the principle that a community based initiative to protect cetaceans and their habitats is best done when owned by the local communities itself. It incentivizes, empowers and engages a community and its businesses so that they benefit directly from a healthy and thriving ocean. 

To coordinate and facilitate the development of a WHS initiative, a steering committee is formed by local stakeholders. These are enthusiastic, creative and passionate individuals who steer the process and help launch, maintain, and sustain the application process.

An effective WHS steering committee should be fully diverse and inclusive and representative of the community and include staff, volunteers, and community members. Its purpose is to serve as a mobilizing force, not a bureaucracy. Making the process meaningful and purposeful for everyone involved. Within the process there is guidance on establishing sub-committees or workgroups to focus on specific goals and activities. 

As well as leading and manageing the process of application, the steering committee must show continual improvement across the community with its various initiatives, through annual reporting as a measure of WHS's excellence.

These corridor forests are disappearing quickly and if these findings are not acted upon soon there will be little corridor forest left to conserve and most of these species will become extinct in this region. There is a need for the Ministry of Water, Energy and the Environment, the District Environmental offices and the National Forest Authority to move ahead quickly with providing economic and financial incentives to enable these corridor forests to receive funding as soon as they can to offset the current incentives to destroy the forest for agriculture. 

Sericulture is the art of silk production by rearing caterpillars (larvae) and undertaking a post cocoon activity (e.g. reeling) leading to production of silk yarn. Women headed households who use to earn income from the sales of firewood illegally extracted from Nech Sar National Park are now engaged in production and sales of cocoons and silk yarn. A combination of fishing, beekeeping, agro-forestry, bamboo processing, nursery, and incentive-based woodlot plantation based livelihoods are also being supported. The Park has six endemic butterfly species that have a potential to be used for sericulture business. The Museum, managed by the sericulture operators, could serve as environmental education center and source of income for the operators in the form of visitor fees. They could also sale their products from the sericulture business as well as food and beverages for visitors of the museum. The visitors include domestic and international tourists, school children and conference participants. Arba-Minch is a stay-over destination for tourists travelling to the Konso, Dorze, Nech Sar National Park and Omo-Valley tourist attraction sites in Ethiopia as well as important conference tourism site in Ethiopia. The cost of construction is assumed to come from the award or conservation partners such as GIZ-BFP.

The purpose of this strategy is to identify the actors who have some degree of influence over the target audience, how they influence, i.e., what role they play in that interaction as well as the level of this influence and how this influence can be used to contribute to audience behavior change that will contribute to the solution.

This strategy made it possible to identify the relevant characteristics of the target audience for the communication campaign, as well as the elements that maintain the problem situation: personal characteristics of the residents, external factors related to the context and locality, and the motivators that facilitate actions to identify how to motivate people to change their behavior or perceptions related to the problem.

The purpose of this strategy is to obtain data to establish a baseline. It was carried out through the application of surveys on social and governance indicators to residents of the intervention zone (neighborhoods adjacent to the Green Belt) as well as interviews with identified leaders and other key actors.

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.

It goes without saying that change cannot take place unless based on sound partnerships that have clearly defined roles, responsibilities and deliverables. Changing farming practices is challenging as these ingrained practices have been passed down for generations. The EWT is able to assist the farmer to bridge the gap between traditional farming techniques and the skills required to transition toward nature-based tourism models.

We found it essential to select farmers who are open to change and then to build their trust through the provision of proven deliverables and mutual respect. Roles and responsibilities need to be clearly outlined and defined in order to speed up the operationalisation of projects and avoid misunderstandings. Our project set holistic goals that supported the farmer and his family, the farm workers, the conservation of biodiversity and provided a unique experience for the outdoor enthusiast.

Building lasting and open partnerships are one of the hallmarks of this project. It is part of the foundation for our success.

Elaborate a Protocol to minimize the damages caused by COVID19 and to be able to open the Protected Area for the enjoyment of tourists and the economic exploitation by the Tourist Service Providers, based on a traffic light by levels and capacities of load and by permitted activities.