Education and Conservation: Lessons from an evaluation

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the lessons for programme design and management that were distilled from a recent evaluation of the Worldwide Fund for Nature's (WWF) global educational programmes. The aim of the evaluation was to clarify and document the contribution that education is making to the achievement of the conservation goals of the organisation. Aspects of the findings of the evaluation are presented but these are not the focus of the article. Rather, the emphasis is on the generalisations that can be drawn from an analysis of the evaluation process and the lessons to be learnt from the findings. This emphasis affords this article a degree of currency and utility that goes beyond its immediate value to WWF and may provide ideas and, in places, a vocabulary for thinking about planning and evaluating environmental education programmes, especially within conservation groups and resource management agencies.