Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals

by Susan Kay Jacobson

Community and public support are essential to the success of conservation and resource management programs. Often, the level of support received depends on whether or not the goals and importance of the program have been clearly explained to the public, the press, or policymakers. Without good communication, even the best programs are liable to fail. Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals provides in-depth guidance on achieving conservation goals through better communications. It introduces communication approaches -- marketing and mass media, citizen participation, public information, environmental interpretation, and conservation education activities -- and offers scores of real-world examples and straightforward advice that will help conservationists develop the the skills they need to communicate effectively. Following an introductory chapter that provides an overview of the communication process, the Throughout, the author presents a rich storehouse of examples, guidelines, and planning tools for all kinds of communication challenges. Strategies and materials that have been used by organizations across the country -- from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to The Nature Conservancy, from Adirondack Park to Yellowstone National Park -- are featured, providing both inspiration and support for others involved with similar projects. Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals is a much-needed contribution to the environmental literature that will play a vital role in helping scientists, managers, concerned citizens, and students to more effectively communicate their knowledge and concern about the environment, and to achieve greater professional and community success with their environmental campaigns.

368 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1999

Reviews

[Jane Lambert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conservation problems are caused by people. Solving them requires people to change their attitudes and behaviours. Unfortunately, when it comes to persuading the public to take action to protect the Earth, conservationists often fall short.

Susan Kay Jacobson’s book aims to address this issue by providing a guide for conservation professionals to effectively communicate their knowledge and concern about the environment with others.

The book is extremely comprehensive, clearly explaining the communications cycle – from identifying objectives, to planning programs, to evaluating impact.

It provides great tips on the importance of understanding audiences, effective lobbying, communicating with groups, a range of communications tools, and environmental interpretation and education activities. Each chapter is accompanied with case studies and examples to show the techniques in action.

Whilst the book is a valiant attempt to arm conservationists with as many communication tools as possible, I think the sheer volume of information is somewhat fatiguing. At times the book reads like a Marketing 101 textbook, bombarding the reader with theories about communications models and research methods.

I also think it is somewhat unrealistic to expect conservation practitioners to master the art of all these communications tools – without professional help or advice. For example, in the chapter about mass media, Jacobson encourages conversation practitioners to learn how to write their own HTML code.

In this respect, the book is probably showing it’s age. It was last updated in 2009 – before WordPress become ubiquitous. Twitter is also noticeable by it’s absence.

I also think the book neglects to focus on a key issue: how to sell the conservation message. Regardless of the tool uses, successful conservation communications must influence and persuade.

How can conservationists craft messages that cut through the public on a way that ignites change? If educating people about the depth of environmental destruction doesn’t work, what does? What spurs people to take action?

Whilst there are no simple answers to these questions, I wanted Jacobson to explore this topic in a bit more depth.

[Marit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jacobson wrote this to be a cook-book for conservation professionals involved in communication with multiple audiences, either individually or more often, through their organization (e.g., NGO). Because of that cook-book quality, there is a lot of repetition if one reads the book straight to finish but within each chapter, there are clear recipes for action. She uses multiple anecdotes to illustrate her directives and they also serve as further inspiration for ways to initiate, continue, and evaluate communication programs. I think this book is a great reference for professionals at any stage in their career or any level of involvement in communication efforts.

[Danielle T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dragged a bit to finish because it's on the drier side, but definitely useful for any kind of communication with the public, from identifying your audience to figuring out how to send your message to evaluating how well your tactics are working. Because it's for conservation professionals, lots of examples from national and state parks, forestry things, etc. but still incredibly useful for any professional-layperson interaction.