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Indira Dayang Lacerna-Widmann of the Katala Foundation is one of 13 campaign leaders in an initiative that brings individuals and local groups together with the support of Rare and Conservation International to build a global constituency for conservation through Rare’s "Pride" program. Her campaign focused on conserving the remaining forests and wildlife in the Dumaran Municipality of Palawan, the Philippines.
What is the most important lesson you have learned?
Choosing the right people to cooperate with is as important as planning the whole project.
Describe how you learned this and whether/how you have adapted your approach or specific project elements as a result.
There were some people on the project site who were vocal at first about getting involved but at the end of the day, they were difficult to get moving.
At the same time, there were those who chose not to participate at first but who turned out to be really important. Most often these people have something to do with important decisions to be made on the site or if you are lucky, they might even be more decisive, influential, and respected by even the highest-ranking officials.
Finding these people proved crucial, as winning them over made implementation of my project much easier and even fun. Once I had them interested, I made sure they were really involved, especially in planning and implementation. I kept them updated too.
On the other hand, it was also key for me, as the project manager, to develop a sense of ownership that I could develop and enhance as the project went on. Once I had that, together with the other key players in the project, we were able to reach out to a larger proportion of our target population.
- September 2005