Conservation Leadership Programme

The Wildlife Conservation Society recently joined the BP Conservation Programme, a joint partnership initiative that also includes corporate giant BP and leading conservation organizations BirdLife International, Conservation International and Fauna & Flora International. WCS International Conservation is committed to developing the skills and abilities of the next generation of conservation professionals at all levels, an important objective of this program.

The BP Conservation Programme aims to support and encourage long-term conservation projects addressing global conservation priorities at a local level. On an annual basis, the program provides assistance, training and financial awards to student-led teams engaging in innovative research addressing conservation issues of global importance. Since its inception in 1985, the Programme has supported over 200 projects in 60 countries with more than 2,500 participants.

All projects supported by the Programme:

Address a wildlife conservation priority of global importance (preferably linking with established work plans (e.g. national biodiversity action plans).
Demonstrate strong linkages with the country where the project will take place (local people participating in all parts of project planning and implementation).
Have a majority of team members in full- or part-time university education (under- or post-graduate and of any age).
Training and support provided by the program builds the immediate capabilities of team projects, but also, and perhaps more significantly, builds the skills, enthusiasm and networks of future generations of young conservation professionals. The BP Conservation Programme also recognizes the ability of these projects to collect useful up-to-date baseline information on the conservation of fauna and flora in parts of the world rarely, if ever, visited by professional scientists.

At the local level, the BP Conservation Programme seeks to raise awareness and involvement of local people in local conservation issues. At the national level, it is helping to build capacity for countries with globally threatened habitats and species to manage their own conservation agendas. Finally, at a global scale, the program plays an important part in encouraging international cooperation in tackling global conservation priorities. It aims to deliver major new findings to science and make significant contributions to the priorities set by the international conservation community.

To learn more about the BP Conservation Programme and our annual awards, visit http://conservation.bp.com.