Conservation and Family Planning: What is the Value of Integrating Family Planning into Conservation Projects?

Cara Honzak, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
Judy Oglethorpe, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
David Lopez-Carr, University of California, Santa Barbara

Conservation organizations have integrated family planning into site-based conservation activities in selected countries for almost two decades yet lacked strong evidence of the approach’s value to conservation. The aim of this analysis was to identify evidence of linkages between family planning interventions and conservation outcomes in conservation field projects. The analysis examined a portfolio of eight projects across six countries that had: primary end goals of conservation, been involved for at least three years in bringing family planning to local communities, and substantial amounts of monitoring and evaluation. WWF staff conducted semi-structured interviews with field project managers about linkages between family planning interventions and conservation outcomes. WWF staff then solicited existing data from projects and synthesized evidence. Results indicate strong evidence for the earliest stages of several common assumption patterns, and an otherwise weak evidence base.