3 Community engagement in developing a plan
For community support of a recovery effort to be most effective, community representatives should be engaged, where practical, from the earliest possible opportunity. Do not wait until a plan is developed and actions are to be implemented before engaging the community.
Acknowledge existing actions and protection by the community, and use these as a base from which to consider extended or improved community engagement opportunities.
If community members are involved from the early stages of a plan or project, mutually agreed processes and timelines can be developed, community priorities and concerns can be incorporated, and mutual trust and positive working relationships can be built.
3.1 Team membership
The obvious first step is to consider team membership, and to include a couple of key, reliable community members who can help to design and implement community actions and work to see that actions last beyond the life of the recovery team and short-term projects. In building a recovery team:
- identify one or more active, respected and astute individuals or local champions from key regions, groups or industries to link the target community with the plan's development and management
- select community members who represent the views of a wider constituency and do not just hold strong personal views - ask those members to liaise with community stakeholders and individuals to ensure that broader group opinions are heard
- bring key stakeholders or individuals onto the team as early as possible, preferably at the first or second meeting
- ensure that the purpose of the team is clear and that each member understands their own and others' roles
- over time, work with community members on the team to increase their responsibility for managing community projects and gaining community support
- always be open to adding new stakeholder groups to the team or subcommittees as planning continues and new opportunities are realised
- view the team not just as a planning group to fulfil a legal requirement or write a document, but rather as agents of change in both attitude and action
- include, when possible or necessary, a trained communicator on the team to facilitate community support
- treat all members of the team equally, despite differences in training, skills, funding, resources or support structures.
Community representatives should ideally have some degree of ecological understanding and an existing involvement with community forums. Their key role, however, is not to provide scientific or social expertise but to act as community stakeholder representatives.
Team community members can provide a stable contact between the community and the recovery team, and ensure continuity of management for future community projects and actions.
If a team is too large, consider creating a parallel support forum to facilitate community engagement, such as a subcommittee, or occasional team meetings involving all community stakeholders.
A procedure should be developed for reconciling differing priorities and attitudes -conflict in recovery teams should be discouraged.
Do not expect community supporters to be interested in the planning process, as they generally have a greater interest in practical applications.
Despite the effort involved, it is often easiest to engage 'rogue individuals' early on in a recovery effort rather than trying to control them later when they are outside your sphere of influence.
3.2 The local champion
It is often beneficial to identify and recruit a motivated 'local champion' to act as the key driving force within the community and liaise with the team.
A local champion is a recognised or respected member of relevant community groups. A local champion can:
- represent community stakeholders on recovery teams
- influence the community and motivate them to initiate or implement recovery or threat abatement actions
- liaise between the community and management group to allow for more effective management of potential conflicts.
Local champions are often a central connection in the network of community conservation groups, and can be the key to getting community groups to take on and support projects or ideas.
It is important to choose local champions carefully, as you have to be able to work with them, they have to understand and respect your processes and limitations, and they have to work effectively and cohesively with the rest of the community.
3.3 Analysing your stakeholders
Early on in the planning process, conduct an initial stakeholder analysis.
A stakeholder analysis can help to guide the review of team members and the development of key actions in a plan. An early draft allows the team to focus on the issues at hand, how outcomes might be achieved to address those issues, and who the influencing players are.
Once key threats and priority areas have been identified in the plan, identifying key stakeholders becomes easier and the analysis should be reviewed again in greater depth.
A basic stakeholder analysis could include the following categories:
- the threat/problem relating to the threatened species
- potential stakeholders
- stakeholders' impact on the threat
- frequency of the threat
- difficulty in reaching the target audience
- knowledge or understanding of the threat.
As stakeholders and issues become better known, these categories can be reviewed and ranked to determine the priority of engaging with the group in question, and more details can be provided on the activities of that group in relation to threats. Additional work can then help to identify the message to be sent to the group and how they might be further engaged in the activity. (See 'Setting out the actions for community engagement'.)
Consider less obvious stakeholders who might have a strong but more indirect impact on the issue of concern, eg consumers and economic investors. It is worth considering who is likely to support or oppose the resolution of the issue, and who can make a contribution but might not be engaged without active recruitment and encouragement. Remember also that stakeholders are not always cohesive groups but may be a loose demographic such as land managers, or individuals such as a single property owner or even a public celebrity.
To help identify local stakeholders and existing groups in an area, see Appendix 1 (appendix106348.pdf 15kb) for a list of potential stakeholders, and Appendix 2 (appendix206348.pdf 147 kb) for an introductory list of existing networks and contact details.
See the table in Appendix 3 (appendix306348.pdf 14 kb) for an example of a stakeholder analysis. For further detail, follow the steps provided in Communicating for recovery - a guide to developing a recovery plan communications strategy (see wwf.org.au/publications/WWF_Comm_for_Recovery_Guide.pdf - pdf file, requires Acrobat Reader). See Appendix 13 (appendixthirteen06348.pdf 171 kb) for publishing details.