Our expectations of the Course

Introducing Nigel and Chris: the people who make the conservation leadership wheel spin

With deep appreciation, we also want to introduce the people that have accepted the challenge to run the MPhil in Conservation Leadership and who have contributed significantly to making it a reality. Mainly, Nigel Leader-Williams, as Director of Conservation Leadership, and Chris Sandbrook, Lecturer in Conservation Leadership at UNEP-WCMC and Affiliated Lecturer of the Department of Geography.

After training as a veterinary surgeon, Nigel completed his PhD with the British Antarctic Survey on the ecology of introduced reindeer on South Georgia. For his post-doc, Nigel studied conservation measures need for rhinos and elephants in Zambia. He then worked with the Director of Wildlife in Tanzania helping write national policies for conservation. For the past 15 years, initially as Professor of Biodiversity Management at the University of Kent, and recently as Director of Conservation Leadership at Cambridge, Nigel has worked to build capacity in conservation through interdisciplinary research and teaching that sits within both natural and social sciences, with a focus on large mammals that conflict with human interests. More information on Nigel´s career and research on http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/people/leader-williams/

Chris on the other side, has focused his research on the relationship between conservation and local livelihoods in the developing world, evaluating the effectiveness of market-based instruments as tools for conservation and development.

In his own words: "Over the past few decades various tools have been developed to mitigate conflict between protected areas and local people who live in and around them. The most popular of these tools has been tourism, which is intended to deliver funding for conservation activities and benefits to local people, thereby encouraging sustainable resource use. However, there is little evidence that this theory works in practice. Much of my research to date has addressed this issue, using mountain gorilla tracking tourism at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, as a case study. In my PhD work I adopted an interdisciplinary approach, using qualitative and quantitative research methods drawn from the biological and social sciences to assess the impacts of tourism at Bwindi for local people and for wildlife. The results showed that tourism can raise funds for conservation activities and deliver meaningful benefits to some local people, but that there remain considerable costs of tourism and conservation, inequalities in the distribution of costs and benefits, and risks to gorillas themselves.

More recently, I have carried out research on the likely impact of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) initiatives on forest governance, the values held by young conservation scientists, and the biological and social impacts of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) interventions in Africa." A list of his publications can be reviewed on http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/people/sandbrook/

The first week: From Norfolk Broads to Churchill College

Having the opportunity to see the diverse set of interests that influence decision-making in the Broads was the best way to start the course. We also got to know more about the activities developed on the ground by conservation institutions such as BirdLife International and the National Trust.

Isadora arrived a couple of days after...but in time for the first class and for the First Conservation Leadership Lecture.

We were privileged to hear Mark Rose, Chief Executive Officer of Fauna and Flora International, give the first Conservation Leadership Lecture on 14 October. Among a small invited audience that included members of the Cambridge conservation community, we were privileged to hear Mark describe the early influences on his life and his love of animals, his training and his career that has seen him move from crocodile rancher in Papua New Guinea, to mover and shaker in the local Wildlife Trusts, and then to CEO at FFI. During his time at FFI, Mark has turned the organisation round, from just being the world's oldest conservation organisation, to one of the most innovative and entrepreneurial conservation organisations. Throughout the lecture, Mark gave hints of his views on leadership, and some of the interventions he has made to ensure the effective management of the organisations he is running.

Following the lecture, we enjoyed Formal Hall at Churchill College, and ongoing discussions with members of the Cambridge conservation community! Here is the group in very different attire to the field trip, and already reflecting the range of leadership experiences we seek from our course!

Introducing a new generation of conservation leaders: Anya Zavadskaya (visitor for Michaelmas 2010)

"I was born and live in the Far East of Russia, in Kamchatka. After graduating, I started work in 2008 as a Staff Scientist responsible for studying environmental threats and impacts on Kronotskiy State Natural Biosphere Preserve in Kamchatka. I carry out annual recreational impacts and research on visitor use, mainly in geothermal areas of the Valley of Geysers and Caldera of Uzon volcano. I also undertake postgraduate research in the Department of Environmental Management of the Faculty of Geography, at Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia. My PhD thesis focuses on the ecological and social factors limiting the development of recreation in the wilderness and PAs of Kamchatka.

I also give lectures and work with students from local universities, and lead a scientific research camp each year in the Preserve. From 2008-2010, I was involved in various research and educational projects supported by the Russian Fund for Fundamental Studies, the UNDP/GEF Kamchatka Biodiversity Conservation Project, and Rufford Small Grants that focused on studying recreational impacts on the ecosystems of Kamchatka. I am a member of IUCN’s WCPA Young Professionals Group, the Russian Geographic Society, the Kamchatka Ecotourism Society, and KamchatKAyaking Club."

Introducing a new generation of conservation leaders: Mxolisi Sibanda

"I have an honours degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Zimbabwe, where I followed the ecology options because of my love for the natural world. Having worked for a few years as a field researcher and intern, I went for MSc in Resource Conservation Biology at Wits University in South Africa.

On re-starting work, I gained valuable experience on various issues in several southern African countries within the miombo ecoregion. Miombo is a Swahili word for a type of woodland dominated by trees such as Brachystegia. My work was wide-ranging and encompassed activities on crocodiles, elephants, sustainable forest management, community-based natural resources management approaches, bio-fuels and climate change. As a result, my personal areas of interest now include: understanding and meeting the challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation; planning and efficacy of protected areas relative to climate change; use of the ecosystem goods and services concept within the carbon market, through Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD); good forest stewardship; human-wildlife conflict, as well as the management of organisations for more effective delivery of conservation."

Introducing a new generation of conservation leaders: Robert Sassor

"Raised in the State of Oregon, USA, I have long had an interest in social engagement with nature. I studied pelagic tar and plastic pollution in the Sargasso during six weeks at sea. In Tanzania, I coordinated the conservation action plan for the Greater Gombe Ecosystem and its famous chimpanzees, and co-coordinated the conservation plan for the Masito Ugalla landscape while fostering adaptive management expertise among local stakeholders. One of my most inspirational experiences was collaborating with stakeholders to develop a wildfire prevention campaign that incorporated local values associated with fire, in an effort to reduce the unsustainable incidence of wildfires in two regions of Tanzania. This experience enabled me to capitalize on my twin passions of conservation and communications. During my years as an English major at Willamette University and subsequently as a researcher and ghost writer on environmental themes, I learned that environmental literature can play an important role in shaping public opinion. I come to Cambridge to examine the methods for determining environmental values and their roots in order to develop conservation plans and communications grounded in the environmental values of the constituencies concerned, particularly among coastal communities."

Introducing a new generation of conservation leaders: Sushmita Mandal

"I gained an MA in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, in 2002, and have worked on natural resource management and governance in India for 8 years. I was project officer for the Foundation for Ecological Security, and spent 4 years working on community-based natural resource management and governance in the State of Orissa. I also raised funds to reconcile conservation and livelihoods issues in the Satkosia Gorge Wildlife Sanctuary, now an elephant and tiger reserve in the Eastern Ghats. I joined the Conservation & Livelihoods Programme of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Bangalore in 2006. I was responsible for strengthening interdisciplinary research on human-landscape interactions in the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary in the Western Ghats. I undertook participatory mapping exercises with the Soligas, the resident tribal community, and analyzed available policy spaces to advocate for protected area co-management.

I hope the MPhil in Conservation Leadership will hone my skills to link local realities and contexts to global processes. I hope the course will gain me a nuanced understanding of conservation issues and apply them through practice and policy advocacy in South Asia."