Conservation programs matter now more than ever. With global warming symptoms threatening many municipalities with a host of issues and with a number of animal species nearing extinction, our actions have a number of consequences. As parks and recreation organizations, our goals are to be community leaders in conservation, health and wellness, and social equity. With many issues regarding conservation at the moment, it’s a great time to start a conservation program at your parks and recreation organization. Here are a few tips to help your team create an effective conservation program.

Find your Purpose 

There are many different purposes a conservation program can have, whether it’s protecting our drinking water, reducing soil erosion, wildlife habitat preservation, forests and wetlands preservation, or natural disaster recovery and aid. Find a purpose that’s close to heart with your team or that your community needs most. Create a list of the effects you want to have in your community. This will help guide your team in the right direction, while forming the basis for action your organization is going to take in realizing those goals.

Assess your Resources 

Once you have some direction, account for what you have and don’t have. Firstly, your team definitely has strengths and weaknesses: note these. Second, note all of the resources you have at your disposal. From graphic designers to tractors to a large amount of land, all of these resources can play various roles in getting your conservation program up and running. Lastly, time and budget concerns are important to keep in mind. Check out the National Wildlife Federation’s article on conservation funding, for some more info. There are many grants available across North America and within different states and provinces, such as this one from the National Geographic Society.

Create a Plan of Attack

By writing out different purposes and by assessing your resources, it should be apparent where your parks and recreation organization can make the biggest difference. Once you choose what you’re going to do, you can create your conservation program to implement. Determine the goals of the conservation program by narrowing down its purpose to a very specific level. Once that’s complete, determine all the steps necessary to reach those goals. This part will the most intense with research, as you’ll want to make sure of all the resources you’re using help create a positive impact. Take a look at studies done assessing the issues you are facing, in your city and in others like it.

Gain Inspiration

Still don’t know where to start? Grab some inspiration from New York, where they focus their conservation programs on water usage. Their citywide strategies create effective change in their communities; increasing water efficiency throughout their city, as well as dealing with shortages and conservation. In Vancouver, their goal to be the greenest city in the world by 2020 is setting a global standard. If you’re having trouble with the plan and implementation, check out their complete action plan to see how they go about hitting their goals and making change.

Need an effective way to bring team communication together, to better focus on your conservation programs? Want to improve collaboration across multiple facilities? Learn more about how Xplor Recreation’s parks and recreation and facility management software can help.

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