Training & Capacity Building Program

Introduction
WCS is committed to the long-term conservation of wildlife and wild places. Conservation is carried out by people, either working individually or as part of an institution, but a lack of human and institutional capacity to plan, implement and evaluate conservation activities is a critical constraint on conservation efforts.  Our experience in the field tells us that effective and sustainable conservation generally requires well-trained local conservationists able to maintain a presence in the field and work within the context of their own cultural and political environment. As a result, capacity building is a key strategy within all WCS-International Conservation programs. As part of the WCS commitment to capacity building, the Training & Capacity Building Program (TCBP) was created in 2004 to promote, support and coordinate the extensive capacity building work being carried out across all WCS field programs and projects. We focus on both individual and institutional development, understanding that both must be addressed together in order to achieve meaningful change.  The TCBP runs several grants-based programs designed to help us achieve this mission while also offering direct support to WCS field programs.

TCBP Programs

• RFP In 1993, WCS formalized a half-century of providing small grants by establishing the Research Fellowship Program (RFP). This program is designed to support individual field research projects for fledgling scientists. In the last ten years, the RFP gave support to nearly 200 people to conduct important field research projects throughout the world. One of the priorities of the RFP has been to help train applied conservation scientists from developing countries and we are pleased to report that over 38% of all Research Fellows have come from developing nations. Collectively, these young professionals will help to apply field-tested conservation science to the challenges facing the conservation community.

• GSP The Graduate Scholarship Program awards assist the conservation leaders of tomorrow in undertaking graduate studies. We seek Asians, Africans and Latin Americans as well as indigenous North Americans with interests in terrestrial and marine conservation issues. The goal of the fellowship program is to enable promising young leaders to gain an international standard graduate education so that they may return to their home countries to inform and implement conservation actions.

• NGO Institutional Development Program WCS provides institutional development support to partner NGOs through an annual grant-making program funded by Robert W. Wilson. NGOs in Africa, Asia and Latin America have received support under this scheme for staff training, infrastructure development, fundraising support and many other institutional development activities.  WCS continues to look for new, innovative and transformative ways to work with and support partner NGOs in order to achieve our mutual conservation objectives.

• CLP The Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) is a collaborative effort between BP, WCS and three other leading conservation organizations.  As a partner, WCS aims to attract, support and develop the skills and networks of young conservation professionals who are working to address global biodiversity conservation priorities. These young professionals conduct biological, social and economic research at a local level and implement practical action by engaging with decision-makers and empowering the local community. This is achieved through a comprehensive system of advice, training and financial awards.

Support to WCS Field Programs
The Training & Capacity Building Program (TCBP) supports WCS field programs to design, implement and evaluate capacity building projects and activities. Support includes carrying out training and capacity building needs assessments, working with field programs to develop comprehensive yet realistic capacity building strategies and plans linked to overall conservation objectives, and evaluating capacity building activities to identify when and how these objectives are achieved. Providing coordinated access to information on funding and training opportunities as well as capacity building resource materials is another important TCBP role.