Community Conservation Coalition - Population, Health and Environment Programs

The Community Conservation Coalition (CCC), founded in 1999, is a Washington, D.C.-based forum made up of diverse organizations concerned with the human dimension of the conservation of biodiversity worldwide. Longstanding members of the CCC include Conservation International; International Resources Group; Jane Goodall Institute; John Snow, Inc.; Population Action International; Population Reference Bureau; Rojas International, Associates; The Nature Conservancy; U.S. Agency for International Development; and World Wildlife Fund. From 2002-2005, CI's Population-Environment program managed the Community Conservation Coalition (CCC) through its USAID Healthy Families, Healthy Forests grant. Currently, member organizations are rotating the chair of the CCC in an informal manner.

Development Challenge
Population, Health and Environment Programming approaches address biodiversity conservation through integrated programming approaches that bring together multidisciplinary points of view - natural resources, ecology, demographics, livelihood and economic development, health, and family planning. To support improved program reach and impact, it is critical that members of these diverse professions network, share approaches and practices, and to contribute to the base of knowledge that informs PHE and Community Conservation projects.

Approach
The mission of the CCC is to contribute to the conservation of biological diversity by fostering communication, collaboration, and institutional change within member organizations and their partners concerning the linkages among conservation, human population dynamics, health, education, and livelihood, with a gender perspective. The CCC works to increase innovation, communication, collaboration and institutional change within international member organizations headquartered in DC to adopt approaches that integrate conservation with social development issues such as population, health, education and the economy.

Activities
This multidisciplinary group meets periodically to discuss issues of importance to community conservation, and although the Coalition is a membership organization, meetings and events are open to all. The CCC sponsors presentations and seminars on emerging conservation topics such as impacts of human migration on conservation and the Champion Community approach in Madagascar.

The CCC also raises the awareness of conservation and development issues. CCC forums have resulted in partnerships and collaborative activities among members, including jointly organized seminars, conference panels and presentations, and publications. Other CCC activities and outputs are: a CD of social science tools for conservation practitioners: "Putting Conservation in Context: Social Science Tools for Conservation Practitioners"; the coordination of events at the World Conservation Congress 2004 concerning gender and conservation; and support of research into human migration.