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Pacific Conservation Biology Pacific Conservation Biology Society
A journal dedicated to conservation and wildlife management in the Pacific region.
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Island partnerships building collective impact

Sally L. Bryant https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3200-3578 A F , Hank Bower B , Sue Bower B , Peter B. Copley C , Peter Dann https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3044-701X D , Darcelle Matassoni B , Daniel Sprod E and Duncan R. Sutherland https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0893-4425 D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Research Fellow, Tasmanian Land Conservancy, PO Box 2112 Lower Sandy Bay, Tas. 7005, Australia.

B Lord Howe Island Board, PO Box 5, Lord Howe Island, NSW 2898, Australia.

C Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, GPO Box 1047, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.

D Research Department, Phillip Island Nature Parks, PO Box 97, Cowes, Phillip Island, Vic., 3922, Australia.

E Bruny Island Environmental Network (https://www.bien.org.au/).

F Corresponding author. Email: sally.bryant181@outlook.com

Pacific Conservation Biology - https://doi.org/10.1071/PC21021
Submitted: 1 April 2021  Accepted: 1 July 2021   Published online: 12 August 2021

Abstract

If conservation depends on people, then community partnerships are the lynchpin to conservation success. The contribution of local knowledge, intellectual capital and volunteer labour not only saves project managers invaluable time and money, it fosters ownership and longevity into conservation initiatives well beyond their projected timeframe. Island communities are socially and culturally diverse and driven by a range of motivations. Hence, if we are to deliver conservation programs at scale, we need to better understand and embed these drivers into program design. We present four contemporary case studies on major populated islands in Australia where community collaborations are building the collective impact needed to underpin conservation success. They contain key learnings about community involvement, to help guide managers with future island planning and avoid some pitfalls.

Keywords: biodiversity conservation, Bruny Island, collective impact, community partnerships, island management, Kangaroo Island, Lord Howe Island, Phillip Island.


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