But while working on both environmental matters and human development, she began to note how advocates in these two worlds rarely intersect, and how they operate in very separate spheres. She recalls giving speeches that ended like this: “We must meet the legitimate aspirations of the billions of people rising out of poverty into the middle class. But we have to do so in a way that also protects and preserves nature and the health of our planet.”
After Littlefield left OPIC, she wanted to take some time off and recharge. She headed to Namibia to study the work of WWF and its partners on community-based natural resource management, its replicability for other markets, and the challenges of managing natural resources while at the same time building livelihoods and a sustainable economy.
What she learned in Namibia was the importance of putting people at the heart of conservation. In order to be successful, all conservation must be designed in close partnership with the communities who steward, and rely on, natural resources.
“I really wanted to understand the community piece of community-based natural resource management,” Littlefield says. She wanted to learn what was motivating communities to participate, why they stayed engaged, and how they saw the balance between their short- and long-term economic incentives.
“It was fascinating,” she says. “And it just fed my ongoing passion to explore and advance models that support communities while protecting landscapes.”
Something Littlefield noticed was the humility with which WWF operated its community-based projects in Namibia. “WWF was playing the supporting role, not the leading role, which I think is one reason these conservancies have been so successful,” she says. “It’s so important to lift up the work of others—we’re all in this together.”
One village at a time, one community at a time, one family at a time—it truly takes the efforts of many to build a prosperous and sustainable future for all.