Name: Cat Conservation Compendium: A Practical Guideline for Strategic and Project Planning in Cat Conservation
Reference: Breitenmoser U., Lanz T., Vogt K. & Breitenmoser-Würsten Ch. 2015. How to save the cat – Cat Conservation Compendium, a practical guideline for strategic and project planning in cat conservation. Cat News Special Issue 9, 36 pp.
Available at: http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=293
Conservation planning step(s) when this would be used: Prepare, Review Status, Build a Vision, Set Goals and Objectives, Plan Actions, Implement and Monitor, Evaluate and Adapt, Capture and Share Learning
Description of tool use: The Cat Conservation Compendium (CCC) is used in the development of a cat conservation program or conservation project. It provides a checklist-like step-by-step guidance from the beginning of a program to its end with a focus on the planning process using a Strategic Planning Cycle. It also covers project planning and management using an Adaptive Project Cycle. The CCC presents an idealized approach for strategic cat conservation planning for the situation where first an international plan (Regional Conservation Strategy) has to be developed subsequently National Action Plans, which are implemented through a series of conservation projects. The methods and approaches presented must be adapted to situational circumstances. The CCC contains several tools and explains their application. It provides recommendations and advice on how to build partnerships, identify stakeholders, review the status of a species, develop National or Regional Action Plans, use the Logical Framework Approach, organize workshops, create a vision, identify goals and threats, analyze problems and opportunities, set objectives, implement actions, communicate with partners and the public and how to monitor and evaluate a program. The CCC can be used at any stage of a conservation program or project.
Experience and expertise required to use the tool: The tool serves as a guidebook and is suitable for people with little experience up to people with a lot of experience in conservation program/project planning.
Data requirements: The CCC can be useful for any sort of data of the species of concern. However, the better the data quality and the more information available, the better the output.
Cost: The tool itself is free. However, some steps described in the tool will need funding. These costs vary depending on the scale of the program.
Strengths and weaknesses, when to use and interpret with caution: The CCC provides very good guidance on how to develop a conservation program or project. It introduces many useful tools and provides checklists and examples. However, the approaches and methods presented must be adapted to the circumstances, for which some experience in program and project planning is needed.
In a situation where conservation practitioners would like to develop a conservation program for a species but are not sure how to start and want to consider all important steps, the CCC can be very helpful. It guides the user through the different steps of the Strategic Planning Cycle:
1. Preparing the ground
2. Status Review
3. (Regional) strategic planning
4. (National) action planning
5. Implementing a plan
6. Monitoring and Evaluation
Case study: IUCN/SSC 2007. Regional conservation strategy for the cheetah and African wild dog in Eastern Africa. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. Report. 83 pp. http://www.catsg.org/fileadmin/filesharing/3.Conservation_Center/3.4._Strategies___Action_Plans/cheetah/IUCN-SSC_2007_RCS_for_cheetahs_and_wild_dogs_in_Eastern_Africa.pdf
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Contributor(s): Tabea Lanz
Affiliation: IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group
Email: t.lanz@kora.ch
Date: 2 June 2016