Does your work focus on protected areas and natural resource governance? Are you concerned that corruption is driving negative outcomes? This page outlines three steps to start building anti-corruption approaches into your conservation programming.
Whether you have decades of experience or are new to the field, you may not know exactly where corruption risks lie, how they might be influencing your conservation outcomes, and what can be done about them. Start by taking the 90-minute eCourse below.
This course introduces basic learning from anti-corruption research and practice to help break down the concept of corruption and expand understanding of the ways that it can be addressed in conservation programming. Case studies are included from the wildlife, forests, and fisheries sectors, based on real-world experiences.
Best results will come from layering interventions at multiple risk points. The first step is to think about who has power in your implementing context. You can then start to identify drivers and facilitators of corruption and entry points for—as well as limitations on—change. The resources below will help you to ask the right questions and identify those risk points.
Learn more about assessing the threats that corruption may pose to conservation objectives and identify responses that are appropriate to your specific context.
Consider whether some of the programming avenues below would help to address your challenges. Take a moment to read these principles for getting started from recent experience testing anti-corruption approaches in various contexts.
Remember: Evidence suggests that targeting corruption through multiple approaches yields best results.
Identify viable entry points for reforms
Explore the Situation Analysis Guide
Strengthen integrity in law enforcement agencies and the judiciary
Explore the Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice Guide
Intercept illicit financial flows connected to land corruption and concessions
Explore the Illicit Financial Flows Guide
Scale inclusive approaches in natural resource governance, protected area design and management
Explore the Communities & Inclusion Guide
Foster transparency of land use decisions and other open governance approaches
Explore the Open Governance Guide
Integrate behavioral change approaches
Explore the Social Norms & Behavior Change Guide
© TNRC / WWF Adria
The preservation and management of protected areas in Serbia is threatened by illegal construction and large capital projects. Civil society organizations that have the capacity to address these problems often have no standing in official procedures, which hinders their active participation. WWF Adria piloted an approach for increasing citizen engagement in spatial planning processes to reduce the influence of special interest groups that may override environmental acts to increase their wealth and harm free-flowing rivers. The team worked with a consultant to complete a legal analysis that mapped relevant processes and regulations. Entry points were identified for local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The pilot team delivered capacity strengthening to 10 NGOs on processes, regulations, and communications strategies. It emphasized collaborative approaches as opposed to confrontational ones to address governance issues. A handbook was rolled out that outlines issues and opportunities for further citizen actions to close opportunities for corruption in the Serbian spatial planning process (TNRC Pilot 2021-2023).
© Luis Barreto / WWF-UK
Connect with anti-corruption experts and others in the conservation community who could be strong partners or advisors by joining a working group in the Countering Environmental Corruption Practitioners Forum.
Image attribution: © naturepl.com / Jen Guyton / WWF; © Brian J. Skerry / National Geographic Stock / WWF; © Georgina Goodwin / Shoot The Earth / WWF-UK; © Hkun Lat / WWF-Aus
