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- All Subjects: conservation
- Creators: Gerber, Leah
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
This 15-week long course is designed to introduce students, specifically in Arizona, to basic sustainability and conservation principles in the context of local reptile wildlife. Throughout the course, the students work on identifying the problem, creating visions for the desired future, and finally developing a strategy to help with reptile species survival in the valley. Research shows that animals in the classroom have led to improved academic success for students. Thus, through creating this course I was able to combine conservation and sustainability curriculum with real-life animals whose survival is directly being affected in the valley. My hope is that this course will help students identify a newfound passion and call to action to protect native wildlife. The more awareness and actionable knowledge which can be brought to students in Arizona about challenges to species survival the more likely we are to see a change in the future and a stronger sense of urgency for protecting wildlife. In order to accomplish these goals, the curriculum was developed to begin with basic concepts of species needs such as food and shelter and basic principles of sustainability. As the course progresses the students analyze current challenges reptile wildlife faces, like urban sprawl, and explore options to address these challenges. The course concludes with a pilot pitch where students present their solution projects to the school.
The status of Earth’s diversity is deteriorating quickly which will continue to impact humans’ way of life, as well as every other living creature, in all regions of the world. However, there are organizations taking action to protect biodiversity on our planet. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is one of those organizations and includes 196 signatories from around the world who are committed to strategies to preserve their biodiversity (Secretariat). Indeed, 98% of the parties which have participated in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have created national biodiversity strategies (NBS) and action plans (NBSAPs) (Secretariat). Yet, there are still countries that have yet to partake in these efforts. America continues to hold out against ratifying the CBD and remains the only developed country without a National Biodiversity Strategy. As an NBS for the U.S. is under consideration, my goal is to understand what works from previous plans. In particular, I focus on stakeholder engagement in Conservation Biodiversity Action Plans. Stakeholder engagement is important because, without it, there may be insufficient levels of integration of the action plans, which can lead to the failure of the CBDs conservation efforts. To address this question, I analyze the 193 strategies created for countries across the globe. My review describes the ways that stakeholders are engaged in National Biodiversity Strategies for CBD member countries. All plans mention some form of engagement. The most common types mentioned are ‘Education’, ‘Communication’, and ‘Training’. Examining the plans further reveals that most forms of engagement often are just mentioned and not completed. Close to 58% of the engagement forms are only completed about 50% of the time. Exceptions are surveys, interviews, and workshops, which are each completed in over 70% of plans that mention them. I then use this information to provide practical recommendations for creating an effective NBSAP for the United States.