Define Scope and Vision Step 1. Assess

Scope

A project’s scope defines the broad parameters of the project – whether that project is an ecoregional program, an effort to conserve a priority area, an initiative to combat a particular threat, or an endeavor to protect a species. A project’s scope defines what the project intends to affect but does not necessarily limit where actions that affect the scope take place. Common options include place-based, target-based, and thematic-based scopes (Box 1).

A clear scope sets the rough boundaries for what the project will attempt to do. For example, in a project with a place-based scope that encompasses a specific protected area and its legally designated buffer zone, the project scope makes it clear that the team is focusing only on that area and the biodiversity it encompasses. Wildlife or natural areas that fall outside of that protected area and buffer zone – no matter how important – would not be part of that project’s scope. Likewise, a project with a thematic-based scope to decrease the threat of elephant poaching for tusks makes it clear that the project team will focus only on elephants (not rhinos or other horned or threatened species) and that they are concerned about the poaching of elephants for tusks. Thus, it should not focus on other threats like revenge killing for crop damage. In reality, there may be some fuzzy boundaries, but a project scope should help a team focus its efforts.

Some teams can become confused about whether they have a place-based, thematic-based, or target-based scope. A team working in a specific watershed might reason that they have a thematic-based scope because they want to address the threat of urban development in the watershed. In reality, the scope is place-based. The watershed is the scope, and the team has chosen to work on one threat (and presumably others) affecting that watershed. There may be, however, a project team that is working to protect wetlands across Europe. Their sole focus is on wetlands, and they cover a geographically broad area. In this case, the team has a target-based scope – wetlands in Europe. One could also reason that their scope is place-based – Europe. In this case, however, they have only identified one element of biodiversity they are interested in conserving. They are not interested in all biodiversity throughout Europe, but rather only wetlands. Whether your scope is technically place-based or thematic-based is less important than being clear and specific about how you will bound your project.

In determining the scope, the team should think about the appropriate scale they will need to achieve their desired impact. For example, will it be sufficient to work in protected areas or will you also need to work in areas outside the protected areas to achieve threat reduction? You should also consider likely climate scenarios. For example, you may consider whether ecosystems or species ranges are likely to shift and what implications this will have for your scope.

Vision

A project’s vision is the desired state or ultimate condition that the project is working to achieve. It is typically expressed in a vision statement, which is a clear and brief summary of what the project team members and their partners would like to achieve. For most conservation projects, the vision will describe the desired state of the biodiversity or resources in the project area, although it will often reference stakeholder interests as well. Your project’s vision should guide your project team and also help you communicate what you are trying to accomplish to outside stakeholders.

Defining a vision enables the core project team members to discuss and agree on what the broad purpose of their project is. Although this can be a relatively easy task in many conservation projects, it becomes particularly important in multi-stakeholder efforts in which the different partners may have radically different ideas of what they would like to accomplish. If some of the stakeholders are interested in conservation and others are primarily interested in using natural resources to promote rapid economic development, then at the very least, the team needs to negotiate how it will work together. Without clear boundaries, there may be considerable confusion among staff and stakeholders as to where the project ends, and there is a risk of being drawn into an ever-widening circle of interventions. A well-crafted vision statement grabs and directs the project team’s attention, sets their agenda, and energizes their work. This statement becomes the common starting point for discussion about more specific activities and outcomes.

How To

Defining your project’s scope and vision involves agreeing as a team on the basic parameters of your project.

Discuss with your team the basic scope of your project

If your project has a place-based scope, then it is necessary to define your project area – the place where the species or ecosystem of interest to the project is located. This may be a national park, a landscape or ecoregion, or some other operating unit your organization might use. Often the project area is defined by natural landscape boundaries (a watershed or an estuary), political boundaries (a province, state, or country), or the boundaries of one or more protected areas (a marine reserve or a national park and adjacent forest reserve). In some cases, you may need to define your conservation targets before coming to a final decision about the geographic boundaries of your project. If you are working in a watershed, for example, you may be interested in conserving a forested area that stretches from your watershed into a neighboring basin. Thus, you may define your project scope as the watershed and the portion of the neighboring watershed encompassing the forest. In this case, the definition of your targets would cause you to extend the geographic boundaries of your project scope beyond the watershed.

Projects with a target-based scope may not focus on a specific or narrowly defined geographic area. Instead, they may focus on a population of wide-ranging animals, such as migratory birds, mammals, or sea turtles. WWF’s Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy Programme (AREAS) is an example of a project with a target-based scope.

Your team should use the best available evidence to identify the scope for your project. If you are missing any information to adequately define your scope, the team should discuss the possible implications of selecting and implementing strategies without this information and how you might address information needs. Uncertainty in defining the scope could in turn affect subsequent decisions influencing the design of the project including threat rating, completing the situation analysis, and the selection of strategies.

Develop a draft vision statement for your project

A vision is a general summary of the desired state or ultimate condition of the project area or scope that a project is working to achieve. If all the members of your project team agree that the project is focused on biodiversity conservation, drafting a vision should be relatively easy. Depending on the size and makeup of your project team, you might want to have the whole team work on drafting the vision or designate a subcommittee to create a draft statement. A good vision statement is relatively general, visionary, and brief (Box 2).

As an example of the process of developing a vision statement, if your project area were the Mesoamerican Caribbean Reef, then your initial draft might be:

Diverse ecosystems of the Mesoamerican Reef conserved

If you are part of a multi-sectoral team, then you may find it challenging to draft a shared vision statement. For example, if there are members of your project team (including partners) who believe that the ultimate vision of the project should not be biodiversity conservation, but instead another aim such as “improving human welfare” or “conserving open space,” then crafting a vision statement becomes a much more difficult exercise. This is especially so if realizing different visions ultimately requires implementing different (and potentially conflicting) strategies. As an extreme example, consider a project in which some team members want to conserve a forest for its biodiversity values and others want to “sustainably” log it for its economic values. The project team here will either have to figure out how to reconcile these two visions or implement different projects with different teams. In this case, you may have to go through a much more formal process of developing a vision statement that might include:

• Soliciting unique submissions from individuals
• Crafting a draft proposal based on the submissions, attempting to include elements of the major ideas in the submissions
• Vetting the draft with the larger group
• Redrafting the vision statement
• Securing final approval by the group

Modify your draft vision statement as needed to make sure it complies with the criteria for a good vision statement

For this example, you would need to work on making it more visionary. Your second draft might read:

Diverse ecosystems of the Mesoamerican Reef are conserved and provide sustainable livelihoods for local people while preserving one of the world’s great natural treasures.

This revised vision is more inspirational and captures the reasons why your team is working to conserve the diverse ecosystems of this marine site. The extent to which biological and social values dominate or share space in the vision statement will have implications for what strategies are prioritized.

Revisit your vision statement as your project evolves

Finally, it is important to remember that vision statements may evolve as new information becomes available, stakeholders change, or aspirations change. Vision statements should be viewed as living statements that can change iteratively as planning and implementation proceed.

Examples | Project Scope

Central Coast of California, USA. This scope comes from an ecosystem-based management initiative along the Central Coast of California:

Morro Bay Estuary and the nearshore coast (to 100 fathoms) and associated watersheds from Point Lopez to Point Conception

Team description of their scope:

“[We] defined the boundaries of the scope based on ecological and social “boundaries” in combination with some existing jurisdictional boundaries. The boundary to the south was set at Point Conception as it separates two biogeographical provinces and because Point Conception is a boundary that separates local fishing communities. Fishermen based in Port San Luis and Morro Bay harbors generally fish areas to the north of Point... To the north there is no defined bio-geographical province for several hundred miles. Therefore, [we] used an existing state regulatory boundary of Point Lopez. We have included the watersheds within our scope because of the known connection between land-based activities and their influence on estuarine systems and nearshore environments. [We] chose a specific depth of 100 fathoms to use an ecological boundary offshore rather than an arbitrary distance from shore, which has no relevance ecologically...”

Examples | Vision Statements

Examples of inspirational vision statements, developed in workshop settings include the following:

Central Coast of California, USA

“A healthy, resilient coastal ecosystem that provides for thriving and interacting populations of plant, animal, and human communities.”

Yangtze Basin

“A region where a living river links the Tibetan Plateau and the Pacific; where people thrive in harmony with nature, pandas play in the forests, children swim with dolphins and fish in the clear water, pheasants dance among the rhododendrons, and the cranes sing at sunrise. A region where natural cycles sustain a rich and ancient culture.”

Bering Sea: This vision is much longer than we would recommend, but the essence of the vision statement is in the first one or two sentences and it is certainly inspirational:

“Our vision of the Bering Sea is to ensure that species assemblages and abundances, community structure, and ecological phenomena are maintained or restored within their natural ranges of variation. Within this long-term vision, the cultural diversity of indigenous peoples is a vital part of Bering Sea biodiversity. People locally and globally recognize the unique value of the Bering Sea and are committed to conserving it. This also requires working together to minimize or eliminate the impacts of alien species and ensure there are no further human caused global or local extinctions.”

Javan Rhino Project

“The long-term survival of Javan Rhinos in and around Rhino National Park ensured for future generations.”

Exercise

1. Develop or provide a map of your project area if you have a place-based scope; this could be GIS-generated, a rough sketch in Google Maps, or a hand-drawn map. If you have a target-based or thematic-based scope, describe it.
2. Develop a vision statement for your project, ensuring it complies with the criteria for a good vision (relatively general, visionary, brief).
3. If you are missing any information to adequately define your scope and vision, discuss and describe the implications of selecting interventions without this information and how you might address these information needs.
4. Briefly reflect on the process of defining your project scope and vision. What decisions did you need to make? Did you expand or contract your scope based on those decisions? Do you see any value to being specific about your scope and vision? Any drawbacks? (1-2 paragraphs, maximum).