The results of the project have been shared with Belize’s Ministry of Forest, Fisheries and Sustainable Development (including Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute and National Climate Change Office) and the Ministry of Tourism to facilitate replication, and uptake of the process and recommendations. The results have also been shared with local communities, local NGOs, land developers and the private tourism sector to build capacity, awareness and implementation of greener landscape practices within the coastal zone.

During the planning phase extensive formative research informs the Social Marketing, as well as the Technical Assistance components of a campaign. Research sets the baselines that allow the assessment of social and conservation impacts following a campaign. Qualitative research (e.g. focus groups, observation, in-depth interviews) is geared towards understanding target audience opinions, feelings, concerns and perceived benefits of current as well as desired management practices. Qualitative research is about creating a casual conversation with and between participants to establish a comfortable relationship, and to reveal underlying information unobtainable through quantitative research. Quantitative research surveys capture specific answers to specific questions to describe demography, identify media preferences, and assess the current state of knowledge, attitude, communication and readiness of target audiences regarding a certain behavior change. Both components ultimately inform campaign decisions like objectives, respective activities, materials, and messages for both Social Marketing and Technical Assistance.

Participatory management planning and capacity building of locals for long-term conservation of forests is one of the final steps of the community-based conservation model. Developing a participatory management plan helps communities to manage their forests effectively. Recently, we drafted a management plan for one of the conserved areas, using participatory decision making tools to identify different units of land-use, human-used areas for basic livelihood needs, grazing grounds and their associated values related to the biodiversity and livelihoods of the community. Through participatory tools, we identified areas where conservation action is needed, areas for regeneration and some of the pockets that needs better protection through the patrolling and monitoring. We undertook social mapping ensuring participation from all segments of the community i.e. elders having knowledge on village history/natural resources, herders, headman (gaonburah), women and youths to delineate all forest usage units. Once forest units and associated actions were identified, we outlined a budget and identified funding sources to support these planned endeavors. The management plan is valid for a period five years, and will be reviewed annually.

Our staff is composed by professionals with technical graduations such as biologists, engineers and social sciences but there no special admission exams for communication professionals. The role that should be done by journalists, designers, publicists are done by the ones previously mentioned. In order to cover part of this gap volunteers with communication experience have given some important contributions. In this case the work is not necessarily done in a regular basis. Some products we have had so far include: logo modernization, media collection organization, promotional material creation, high-quality pictures production and social networks fostering.

Mangrove custodial association members are trained as guides for ecotourism activities as a possible alternative source of income. Visitors learn about locals’ regular activities such as fishing, catching crabs or collecting molluscs. They are then given the experience of preparing and consuming the mangrove’s bounty.

Unlike Social Marketing, the Technical Assistance (TA) is based on more personal interactions with the fishers at the fishing group level (cooperatives or associations) or at the individual fisher level. This allows the issues to be addressed with more detail and depth, although larger groups of people are not reached. The overarching goal is to promote fishers´ support for conservation actions (e.g., creation of FRZ, adoption of sustainable fishing practices). Technical assistance tools are targeted towards building capacity in coastal communities and removing technical barriers, emphasizing leadership among fishers to improve the management of fisheries resources. Examples of technical assistance activities include one-on-one conversations, fishing trips, fisher exchanges among sites, formal training in specific fishing methods through workshops and courses, informal training, meetings with the authorities, follow-up with administrative and legal processes (e.g., fishing concession/permit renewal) and providing organizational materials (e.g., file cabinets, blackboards, etc.).

The aim of this activity was preservation of cultural sites and promotion of cultural tourism through reconstruction of buildings and production of information in order to improve knowledge of the past in Paanajärvi National Park in Russia. The border area was ravaged in past wars and the border shifted leaving parts of what is now Paanajärvi NP that belonged to Finland on the Russian side. Through understanding of the past we can learn from it and promote peace and cooperation in our time. Two buildings were constructed using an old building technique for log houses after models from the 1930s in the old Finnish settlement of Arola in Paanajärvi NP (now part of Russia) and one in the old Russian Karelian village of Vartiolampi. Information panels about the history of these sites were placed in the vicinity of the buildings and an exhibition of historical objects was set up in the building in Vartiolampi. Also history books were produced in order to highlight that the NPs share common roots and want to share a common future as well.

Alternative adaptation options were analyzed via the Marine InVest tool to identify costs and benefits of these approaches. Costs were incorporated directly into the scenarios and InVEST. This included the costs of implementation of adaptation options combined with any associated costs to ecosystem services quantified by our models, and benefits represented by the positive return in ecosystem service values quantified by our models. Local experts helped in reviewing the selected ecosystem services and adaptation options. A technical report was developed on the activities.

Building trust between MarViva and the Community Councils of each community has taken more than four years before the development of the Communication Collective. Creating an association between the Collective and the Foundation has been based on the respect for the interests, decisions and role of the Community Councils. This partnership has allowed the insertion of the Foundation in the communities where it is positively seen as a strategic partner. This integration has been strengthened by successful previous processes where communities have perceived the benefits of partnership and the "fair play" by the Foundation.

Climate impact hypotheses were translated into quantitative relationships and data layers for use in the InVEST ecosystem service models. Adaptation strategies were selected based on outcomes for ecosystem service provisioning with a set of four climate adaptation scenarios tested. In selecting the most appropriate adaptation strategies, we drew on existing research with stakeholders in Belize that identified the ‘best options’ for sustainable development, adaptation, and mitigation of climate change in Belize, and looked at these under three management scenarios.