The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Marine Conservation

NGO;Marine Conservation;Natural Resources and Environment

Crosman, KatherineYaffee, Steve ;

University of Michigan

关键词: NGO;    Marine Conservation;    Natural Resources and Environment;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/99557/Crosman_Roles_of_NGOs_in_Marine_Conservation_Final.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

Non-governmental organization (NGO) engagement in marine conservation canbe understood by analyzing the roles that such organizations play. Document and websiteanalysis and semi-structured interviews were used to identify five NGO roles: advocate,expert, manager, watchdog and enabler. Semi-structured interviews were also used toexplore the nuances of the enabler role, an approach that works with and throughstakeholders to define and reach conservation goals.Drivers of the enabler role were found to be organizational mission, conservationcontext, and funding needs. Benefits of the enabler role were better coordination andinclusivity, better long term conservation outcomes, targeting capacity and resourceneeds, better access to some contexts, and extended organizational capacity andresources. Challenges of the enabler role centered on resources needs, defining successand walking away, engaging with stakeholders, and tensions between roles. Facilitatingfactors included organizational trust, a commonly understood problem, and alignedinterests. Strategies for enabling were cultivating trust, working collaboratively, clearcommunications, and shared responsibilities.The typology and improved delineation of the enabler role presented here may aidNGOs in explicitly identifying the approach(es) necessary to achieve their goals. It mayalso help observers of the non-profit sector better frame discussion of how roles interact.It is hoped that the systems understanding cultivated here provides organizations, fundersand scholars with a new lens into NGO engagement in marine conservation.