Strategic planning: a basis for effective action

Comprehensive conservation planning is the second, essential step in the Assess-Plan-Act cycle necessary for effective conservation efforts. Planning sets a long-term vision, clarifies the goals and expected outcomes, evaluates threats to species, identifies missing scientific information, identifies and prioritises the actions that are needed to achieve objectives, establishes a timeline, identifies necessary resources including funding, personnel, and partnerships, and creates a monitoring plan to assess conservation impact and adaptive management needs. Because effective conservation is a long-term process, and evaluation must be evidence-based, the impact of planning is often difficult to assess. However, evidence is emerging that shows improved species status as a result of comprehensive conservation planning. In this chapter we identify the various levels at which planning occurs, discuss tools and processes available to assist with conservation planning, including some specific to amphibians, outline some of the major challenges to planning and plan implementation, and provide key recommendations to facilitate successful amphibian conservation planning.