Science

• Biodiversity Assessment Unit (BAU)
  BAU is a small team of CI-based scientists that conducts formal Red List Assessments of the conservation status of species. These assessments are normally done group by group (e.g., cones shells of the Pacific). BAU works in partnership with an expert team from IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) based in Cambridge, England.
  
• Rapid Assessment Program (RAP)
  The RAP Team manages CI's Rapid Assessment Program, which carries out field biodiversity and ecosystem health assessments in important selected sites around the world. RAP is now expanding its focus (RAP+) to include monitoring and high-tech tools, to allow greater flexibility in RAP deployment around the world.
  
• YUS Climate Science Project
  The YUS Climate Science Project is conducting a detailed elevational transect of the distribution of biodiversity along an elevational gradient from sea level to 3,500 meters above sea level on a mountainside in the YUS ecosystem of Papua New Guinea. Part of the innovative YUS Conservation Program led by the Woodland Park Zoo with technical support from CI, the YUS Science initiative is documenting the impact of climate change on plants, animals, and subsistence agriculture in New Guinea.

These methods for consistent and participatory priority-setting enable CI and our partners to guide limited resources and implement safeguards to secure biodiversity and the benefits it provides people. CPO also supports development of a consistent set of indicators for achievement of CI's conservation objectives.

In addition, CPO, through the Conservation Leadership Program, focuses on building the skills and capabilities of emerging conservation leaders by providing grants, training and ongoing support and networking opportunities.

• Biodiversity Hotspots
• Key Biodiversity Areas
• Priority Setting
• Biodiversity Analysis
• Conservation Leadership Program
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
• Conservation Effectiveness Analysis

Economics and Planning responds to government and corporate decision makers' expressed interest for rigorous green development planning, implementation, and monitoring. This program delivers state of the art technical support, integrating natural resource economics, value chain analysis, REDD design, and spatial planning. EPP's key focus is establishing a technical foundation for demonstrating the benefits of green economic development, one that incorporates natural capital into decision making.

• Green Economies
• OSIRIS
• Protected Areas
• Conservation Economics
• Economic Development

Using state of the art monitoring tools, our scientists assist field forest efforts and governance through increased ability to respond to deforestation, illegal logging and fire, as well as making pioneering contributions to both conservation and restoration of forests through REDD+ projects.

Our scientists also work on a variety of research projects that develop and use a comprehensive variety of econometric, statistical and geospatial techniques, as well as decision-support tools, to model complex ecosystem service provision and benefits at multiple scales, within both terrestrial and marine environments. Examples of such efforts include the mapping, assessment and valuation of ecosystem services, with the ultimate goal of improving understanding about the incorporation of the value of natural capital into planning, decision-making and green accounting processes.

One important aspect of our research portfolio is demonstrating the critical role healthy ecosystems play in helping people adapt to climate change. This ranges from assessments of 'Ecosystem Based Adaptation' potential and evaluation, adaptation needs for biodiversity and ecosystem, vulnerability assessments, and field demonstration efforts in selected countries. Such a broad, wide range of research is intended to provide compelling evidence of the critical role that natural capital plays in human well-being, and to foster greener development and planning pathways in countries where CI works.

• REDD+
• Forest Monitoring
• Climate Change Adaptation
• Remote Sensing
• Ecosystem Services Monitoring
• GIS
• Habitat Monitoring
• ARIES

The prosperous ocean envisioned by Conservation International will depend on the scientific guidance provided by the Science + Knowledge Division's Marine Science Program, which is committed to catalyzing, facilitating, guiding and communicating science to further conservation initiatives at local to global scales.

The program examines and utilizes strategies such as marine managed areas, which can restore and increase resiliency of ocean ecosystems in the face of global change while providing benefits to people through diversified livelihoods, improved economic opportunities and greater food security.

Critical to success is using these insights to influence conservation action by collaborating with decision-makers throughout the scientific process. These partnerships are instrumental in influencing marine policies worldwide.

• Marine Managed Areas
• Science-to-Action Network
• Ocean Health Index
• Fisheries Assessments
• Marine Climate Change Adaptation Assessments
• Policy Scenario Tools

TEAM delivers multi-scale, real-time understanding of how key elements of Earth's operating system — climate, carbon stocks, biodiversity — are changing, and what this means for people – an early warning system for nature. Created by Conservation International, the TEAM Network is now a partnership of over 80 organizations in 17 countries, including CI, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

• Remote Sensing
• Land Cover Change
• Long-term Monitoring