For Conservation International, partnerships are key to its success

For Jennifer Morris, chief operating officer of environmental nonprofit Conservation International, there are two reasons her organization has been able to continue to grow for nearly three decades, forming successful partnerships with different stakeholders along the way. “One of the key reasons for our continued growth is our emphasis on measuring performance,” Morris told Devex. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t determine the return on investment. So we aim to be very specific about our impact.” This also reassures donors, which can quantify what their donation has achieved. The second reason, according to Morris, is being able to guarantee long-term finance, as introducing measures to protect the environment takes time. It uses long-term grants, such as those from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation — the foundation set up by Intel co-founder Gordon and his wife Betty — to support cash-strapped governments and local organizations and put long-term protection measures in place in over 30 countries. As such, since its humble beginnings in a Washington hotel room in 1987, the Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit now boasts more than 1,000 staff in 30 countries. It also posted nearly $165 million in revenue in its 2014 financial year, nearly half of which came from foundation grants and contributions. Its successes, such as creating the world’s largest protected area in the Natural Park of the Coral Sea in New Caledonia or creating a Sustainable Landscapes Partnership in Peru with U.S. Agency for International Development support, have meanwhile enabled it to attract high-profile support from celebrities, governments and businesses. “A big part of our success is the importance we place on partnerships to change how development occurs,” Morris said, adding that CI works with a variety of partners, from small organizations in indigenous communities to global corporations. ‘Boots on the ground’ Conservation International has formed partnerships with local organizations in 30 countries, and provides financial support in an additional 60, choosing those that put nature at the center of economic development. CI adopts a three-pronged approach. First, it employs a “boots on the ground” approach and made sure locals comprise the majority — 98 percent — of staff in country offices. “This is the best way as local people drive the agenda on sustainable development,” Morris explained. But CI does more than just hire locals, sometimes providing seed grants to people in the communities so they can develop their skills in fundraising or building infrastructure. Second, the environmental nonprofit sends international staff to attend local training sessions and has a staff exchange program between partner offices in different countries. Third, it is a partner and Secretariat host for the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, a joint initiative with the French development agency, European Union, Global Environment Facility, Japanese government, MacArthur Foundation and World Bank. Since 2000, CEPF has provided more than $185 million in grants to nearly 2,000 nonprofits to implement conservation actions in the world’s biodiversity hotspots — biologically rich yet threatened terrestrial ecosystems. This has helped create 13 million hectares of new protected areas, strengthened the management of 35 million hectares of key biodiversity areas, and leveraged an additional $346 million for conservation. Working with mega corporations Setting up partnerships with businesses is another key to CI’s success, and it is not afraid of working with some of the world’s biggest corporations, such as Starbucks, The Walt Disney Co. or Wal-Mart. “We feel corporations have to do things differently if we are going to succeed in protecting natural wealth and working for sustainable development,” Morris explained, citing CI’s work with coffee and Starbucks as an example. Starbucks first approached CI for scientific advice on shade coffee as it wanted to increase local producers’ yields. CI later discovered that farmers were not prospering as they lacked access to credit to develop the crop. To rectify this, CI established the Verde Ventures fund to provide credit, with Starbucks as one of the first investors. This gave farmers access to much-needed working capital. It also allowed them not just to produce their coffee more sustainably, but to also achieve certification, a necessity with today’s eco-conscious consumers. Morris recognizes that Starbucks’ endeavors to sell “sustainable” coffee may not just be for real environmental and social concerns, but also because preserving water and not depleting the soil improves production and the company’s bottom line. Ways to avoid ‘greenwashing’ Over the years there has been some controversy about developing relationships with global corporations. But the nonprofit is learning from its experiences and has taken steps to ensure it doesn’t form partnerships with corporations that are approaching CI only to “greenwash” their activities. CI tries to avoid this by applying four strict criteria before agreeing to a long-term, strategic partnership. ● The corporation must work with a commodity, such as coffee, tuna, palm oil, which if not produced sustainably could cause severe long-term environmental damage. ● The corporation must have fair and sustainable business practices in dealing with the local community, among others. ● The companies in the supply chain must also operate fairly and sustainably. ● The corporation must take serious long-term measures to improve the environment. Only when CI is satisfied that a corporation fulfils these criteria will it set up a corporate partnership. But it will also end the partnership once it finds that the corporation’s approach changes so it no longer meets the criteria. But the environmental nonprofit is hopeful that by continuing to work with business, it will be able to encourage corporations to change the way they view nature and the environment. “We must give the same value to natural capital as we do to social (human) capital,” Morris said. “In the past people saw nature — water and land — as a ‘free’ commodity, so did not put a value on how it was used. We need to set up a system to count the benefit nature brings so that we will start to value it properly.” Check out more insights and analysis for global development leaders like you, and sign up as an Executive Member to receive the information you need for your organization to thrive.