TNRC Pilot Projects

TNRC supported project-based learning to fill knowledge gaps on the impact of corruption on conservation and natural resource management and effective responses. Eight pilot projects were supported by TNRC to test different anti-corruption approaches in the fisheries, forest, and wildlife sectors. These sub-grants were selected from an internal Challenge Fund that sought to develop a diverse portfolio. Each had its own theory of change, which was monitored to yield practical learning to inform future efforts.

Fundación Vida Silvestre

Fundación Vida Silvestre (WWF’s partner organization in Argentina) delivered a pilot to address corruption that undermines effective fisheries governance. Based on media reports and private conversations with stakeholders, the pilot team learned that there was high probability of corruption related to bycatch and discards, even if concrete evidence was not possible to collect. The team took a politically informed approach to address this corruption risk. In 2021-2023, Vida Silvestre rolled out an electronic fisheries information system (e-logbook) for reporting fishing information at the capture stage. In parallel, the team also conducted an advocacy campaign to encourage the passage of a national traceability law. Delivery of this pilot involved interviewing captains and ship owners, testing and rolling out the e-logbook, developing advocacy materials, meeting with key decision makers, participating in Congressional debates, expanding the system of actors with which leaders engage, strategic media releases, and coordination of events advocating for the adoption of the national traceability regulation. Final results and lessons learned are available in the case study below.

WWF Adria

WWF Adria tested an approach for increasing citizen engagement in spatial planning processes to reduce the influence of special interest groups that can override environmental acts, increasing their wealth and harming free-flowing rivers. The team worked with a consultant to complete a legal analysis that mapped out the relevant processes and regulations. Through this, they identified the most ideal points in the spatial planning process for local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to engage. In 2021-2022, the team delivered capacity strengthening to 10 NGOs on processes, regulations, and communications strategies, emphasizing collaborative approaches as opposed to confrontational ones in addressing governance issues. This pilot showed that knowledge about these issues was limited among Serbian NGOs, but there was strong interest in addressing them if the topic were presented in an accessible way. To that end, WWF Adria developed a handbook (unofficial English translation available below), that lays out issues and opportunities for further citizen engagement, potentially closing some of the opportunities for corruption in the Serbian spatial planning process in the long term.

WWF Colombia

WWF Colombia leveraged their environmental rights work to promote ratification and implementation of the regional Escazú Agreement, a powerful guarantee of protections for environmental defenders and environmental transparency, public participation, and justice. While none of these elements of the Agreement are explicitly about “corruption,” WWF Colombia recognized that corruption is closely linked to the problems the Agreement seeks to address, and the four pillars all contribute to anti-corruption outcomes. In their pilot, WWF Colombia evaluated two pieces of Colombian legislation important for inclusive conservation in the country and recommended several concrete reforms to better comply with the goals of the Escazú Agreement. The case study below shares more details about their efforts to improve inclusive environmental governance and their intended next steps.

WWF Guatemala

WWF Guatemala examined how corruption enables the illegal hunting and trade in jaguars and undermines their conservation status in the Maya Biosphere. The work took both a “top down” and “bottom up” perspective. The project also used a mixed methods approach, including a political economy lens and institutional risk assessment (if possible) to understand the interweaving influence of organized crime, illegal markets, and politics as well as institutional, historical, and ecological differences in areas of the Multiple-Use and Buffer Zones of the Maya Biosphere. To address the findings of the analysis, the project developed education and livestock protection interventions in partnership with officials and local communities. This pilot generated a multitude of lessons learned, summarized in the case study below.

WWF Kenya

WWF Kenya built on its work introducing key pieces of monitoring technology with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to work to further reform and enhance the management systems of KWS in order to reduce opportunities for corruption. The pilot tested whether the strengthening of management systems further enhances and complements the technology introduced to assist rangers with detecting poachers and reducing the risk of corruption.

WWF Mexico

WWF Mexico conducted a corruption risk analysis of the red snapper fishery to identify vulnerabilities (including corruption), to understand and assess the impact of irregular and illegal activities, and to present recommendations to mitigate the risks. The team identified points of contact with authorities at each step of the value chain, analyzed press releases and official documents for incidents of corruption, and interviewed and held workshops with key stakeholders in the fishery. The case study below shares their findings and lessons learned. The patterns they identified can serve as entry points for comparisons with other regions of the country, which are essential to properly contextualize the problem and design the solutions at scale that some of these challenges require.

WWF Nepal

WWF Nepal took a human rights-based approach to better understand and address governance challenges in Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs). In 2021-2022, a participatory assessment explored the governance gaps and collected information on the socio-political context, engaging marginalized groups (including poor women, Dalit, and indigenous people). Findings from that assessment were used to target specific trainings for both duty bearers and rights holders, as well as state and non-state actors, to improve accountability and governance. The first case study below describes their activities and lessons learned.

WWF Nepal’s first activities also identified a major untapped potential: mobilizing young people as good governance and anti-corruption champions. The team focused on this opportunity in a second phase, with efforts to directly train and encourage youth champions as well as broader efforts to improve the enabling environment for good governance and youth participation. The second case study below describes their activities, learning, and some promising initial impacts.

WWF Peru

In their first TNRC pilot, WWF Peru trialed an electronic permitting app to enable small-scale fisheries to more easily obtain relevant permits and reduce instances of bribe paying. This pilot specifically tested whether introducing electronic permitting, which has the support of local fisheries, could eliminate that opportunity. In 2021-2022, the app was rolled out to fisheries in three cities who were provided support throughout the life of the pilot. Effectiveness was assessed using participatory methods to collect the experiences of fisheries. Risk mitigation measures were taken to support the anonymity of participants in data collection. The first case study below documents their efforts.

In 2023, WWF Peru implemented two follow-on efforts. The second pilot expanded the capabilities of TrazApp to catch certificates. Verification and trust at this stage of the process are critical to controlling IUU fishing because corruption at this early step can negate the value of all subsequent controls. WWF Peru created a platform for requesting catch certificates, to be donated to a subnational government, and connected this platform to the TrazApp application. WWF Peru then trained artisanal fishers and processing plant owners on the use of the new platform. The second case study below describes their learning.

Finally, in their third pilot, WWF Peru developed “Justina del Mar.” Justina is a virtual chatbot who provides artisanal fishers and shipowners in Peru with key information on the fishing sector and the government’s complaints mechanism, thus contributing to the prevention of corruption. The third case study below shares the lessons learned from developing Justina.