During August, Partners for Conservation convened two different groups of collaborative conservation practitioners in Boise, Idaho. The objective of the workshops was to provide information on the basics of diverse conservation partnerships, what it takes to build effective collaborations, as well as roadblocks and opportunities for collaborative conservation in western working landscapes.

Each of the two groups, which included agency employees, landowners and representatives of nonprofit organizations, spent a day and a half talking about the basic building blocks of collaboration including effective and transparent communication, building trust and credibility, and establishing a shared vision of success that all participants can buy into. Everyone learned more about the “people to people” skills of building effective conservation partnerships. The groups also provided input to Partners for Conservation on the types of support they need most to sustain collaborative efforts that address their social and economic concerns—in addition to ecological concerns—all of which form the three legs of the stool for diverse, multi-perspective collaborative conservation efforts.

The discussions were captured and Partners for Conservation is pleased to share the report “Collaborative Conservation Workshops 2018” developed from the proceedings. Partners for Conservation hopes to continue these efforts and toward that end we are hosting a session titled “Diverse Conservation Partnerships for Team Leaders” scheduled for late February 2019. Support for this series of learning sessions was provided by the Hewlett Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service.