Creativity and Innovation During a Global Crisis

The full implications of the COVID-19 pandemic are yet to be determined, but it has disrupted nearly every aspect of socioeconomic activity at a breadth and scale not seen in modern memory. Now activities that once seemed routine — school, work, travel, errands, and social gatherings —present serious health risks, and the resulting lockdown is…

How to Fail to Succeed

“Failure is strength. The most effective and innovative organizations are those that are willing to speak openly about their failures because the only truly ‘bad’ failure is one that’s repeated.” —Engineers without Borders, USAID Learning Lab No one wants to fail. And fewer wish to own up to it. Understanding the causes of failure is…

From Threat to Solution: Rethinking the Role of Communities in Nature Conservation

This post originally appeared on Mongabay. Photo courtesy of Samantha Cheng. The imperative for nature conservation has never been greater. A widely publicized intergovernmental report predicts extinction for more than a million species over the next few decades unless we drastically change human consumption and economic growth. This loss of species will threaten the global…

Evidence on Biodiversity Conservation Impacts: Assessing Theories, Approaches, and Outcomes from Community Engagement and Tenure

This review was undertaken as part of a joint initiative, the Conservation Solutions Lab, between Arizona State University and Chemonics, and seeks to build knowledge and evidence-based approaches for more effective community engagement in conservation. The analysis revealed that the current evidence base is lacking the robust data needed to uncover the links between governance…

Conserving Guatemala’s Ecosystems with Good Governance

From mangroves to pine trees and sea turtles to quetzals, Guatemala is home to an incredibly diverse host of species and ecosystems. As one of the most ecologically diverse nations on the planet, Guatemala’s biodiversity underpins its food security, clean air and water, economic development, and local livelihoods. But its complex ecosystems are vulnerable to…

Dr. Felix Gaschick

Dr. Felix Gaschick is a biodiversity and forestry specialist with more than 15 years of experience conceptualizing and managing natural resource and livelihood programs across Mongolia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. He joined Chemonics in 2013 and served as the biodiversity and forestry specialist for the USAID-funded Philippines Biodiversity and Watersheds Improved for Stronger Economy and…

Greg Minnick

Greg Minnick is a natural resources and environmental management and forestry specialist with more than 40 years of experience across a broad range of ecological zones, from the Sahel in Western Africa to the humid tropics and high Andean regions in Latin America. He has worked in forest management with community and indigenous groups and…

David Fratt

David Fratt is a senior director with more than 25 years of experience working in environment and natural resource management in Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the United States. During this time he has worked with various clients, including USAID, regional development banks, national and local governments,…

Helping To Conserve the Peruvian Amazon

The Peruvian Amazon is a tropical rainforest covering more than 270,000 square miles, and its vast collection of plant and animal species make Peru one of the world’s most biologically diverse countries. Many Peruvians rely on forest-based livelihoods to feed their families, but a deforestation crisis has jeopardized their jobs. The USAID Peru Environmental Management…

Clean Water and Resource Conservation in Angola, Botswana, and Namibia

The southern African countries of Angola, Botswana, and Namibia suffer from frequent floods and debilitating droughts. Although many in these countries reside close to the Okavango River — which supports the livelihoods of 880,000 people — they live in extreme poverty and have limited access to adequate water and sanitation services. The USAID Southern Africa…