Rare trains conservationists to shift human behaviors that are destructive to the environment and empower local communities to participate in shaping their own economic and environmental destinies. Based in the U.S., Rare works primarily in the developing tropics, which are rich in biodiversity, but home to populations experiencing extreme poverty and lack of capacity to improve both conservation and livelihoods. Rare's mission is to foster conservation solutions that benefit both people and nature in parts of the world that contain the richest remaining stores of forests, reefs, and species.

While many conservation organizations seek to change international environmental regulations, Rare focuses on supporting these efforts by building capacity at the local level and identifying and scaling community-driven solutions that it believes are the key to lasting change. Rare runs what are called "Pride campaigns"—so named because they inspire people to take pride in the species and habitats that make their communities unique, while also giving them real alternatives and incentives to change environmentally destructive behaviors. Local leaders who complete both academic training and a successful campaign to reduce environmental threats receive a globally-accredited Master's Degree in Communications (the first of its kind designed specifically for conservation practitioners and offered in four languages). Rare shares the progress, outcomes, and learning at every stage of every campaign on a public web site called RarePlanet.org. This site also connects the more than 100 alumni campaign managers—many of whom are working on their second and third campaigns following their Rare training.

What it Looks Like to Put Conservation in Local Hands
High on the slopes of Indonesia's Mt. Sumbing live 10,000 varieties of trees, 25,000 flowering plants, 10 percent of the world's turtles, snakes, and lizards, and a biological treasure of birds. Mt. Sumbing also serves as a watershed for one million people living in East Java. Yet, because of rapid and devastating deforestation, one-third of the mountain's native species are threatened, along with the vital water supply to surrounding communities. Prior to the commencement of Panji Anom's Rare Pride campaign, local conservationists estimated that the mountain's remaining forest could be wiped away in five years.

Panji, an experienced conservationist working in Indonesia, received training from Rare and implemented a Pride campaign in his region. Targeting the 20,000 people who inhabit Mt. Sumbing's eight villages, the Pride campaign drew on social marketing principles similar to those used in the United States to promote seatbelt laws. Posters, public festivals with mascots of endangered species, demonstration workshops on new technology, and outreach to local leaders about the link between forests, fuel, water, and health helped Panji convince hundreds of households to adopt more fuel-efficient stoves, reducing each household's demand for fuelwood by an estimated 1,800 cubic meters per month. The campaign also instigated the planting of 11,000 new trees and designation of specific areas of forest for non-use or more sustainable management.

These efforts represented a significant commitment to conservation by the people living in and around Mt. Sumbing, and fostered a critical turning point in local understanding of the link between forest health and livelihoods. In a post-campaign survey, 84 percent of residents agreed that forest management had become their responsibility, an increase from 30.5 percent prior to the Pride campaign.

The Power of One Multiplied
Rare has become a leader in international biodiversity conservation. The organization has trained more than 150 local leaders from more than 50 countries through partner universities in the UK, U.S., Mexico, Indonesia, and China. These local leaders have in turn, successfully launched campaigns to reduce illegal logging, overfishing and poaching; improve protected area management; and instill a lasting conservation ethic where it is needed most - at the community level. While many Pride alumni go on to run second and third campaigns, the 150+ primary campaigns launched to date alone have influenced more than 6.8 million people living in more than 2,400 remote communities worldwide.

Speaking of Rare's incredible growth, Brett Jenks, Rare's CEO, emphasizes that "at its heart, Rare is still, and will continue to be, about the potential for one inspiring individual to build lasting support for the environment." Brett has led the organization's expansion to five continents and has received four straight Fast Company Social Capitalist Awards, honoring Rare's business model and its solution to a pressing social need.