In this time of increasing environmental crises, three Chicago institutions have teamed up in an international conservation outreach effort. The Field Museum, the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Chicago Zoological Society — in an unprecedented move — have joined in a program to train scientists and wildlife managers from tropical countries in conservation biology.

The basic idea is that there is no better way to promote conservation of the world's most biologically rich countries than to help citizens of those regions learn how to sustainably manage and conserve their countries' wild places.

The program, "Advanced Training in the Conservation of Biological Diversity," is funded by a three-year, $435, 000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

"One of the critical challenges confronting societies throughout the world is how to properly manage and preserve the limited resources of our planet," said Dan Martin, director of the World Environment and Resources Program of the MacArthur Foundation. "We are pleased to support this important initiative in conservation biology based in Chicago."

The three institutions, which collectively represent one of the world's greatest centers of knowledge about conservation biology, will pool their strengths to provide the most comprehensive training currently available in this dynamic field.

The program targets talented young conservationists with previously established careers in their own nations. Those participating in the program will gain experience in thee major areas of conservation biology: collection-based analysis of biological diversity, pure academic research, and management of threatened and endangered species. The program is intensive but brief, lasting two or four months.

The three institutions expect this program to function as a catalyst for action because it will allow people actively employed in conservation to quickly develop new programs and pass their knowledge on to others.

Though participants will not begin training in Chicago until June 1994, four conservationists from the Philippines trained during the summer at the three institutions as part of a pilot project that was the forerunner of the new program. The pilot project on Philippine Vertebrate Conservation Biology, also funded by the MacArthur Foundation and completing its third and final year (1991-1993), was a collaborative effort between the Field Museum of Natural History and Chicago Zoological Society, with involvement by the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The pilot project has already fostered the development of several experienced, knowledgeable and very determined young conservation biologists in the Philippines. Both the pilot program and the new program are remarkable. On a local level, they are notable because they mark the first time these three Chicago institutions have worked together for a common goal. The programs provide the opportunity for these institutions to demonstrate their role as a collective global center for the study and management of biological diversity. Individually, none of the three institutions could provide a well-rounded experience for the participants, but together their experience, facilities and opportunities are unrivaled.

The advanced training will involve a lecture series; guided, collaborative research with the sponsoring institution on the topic that is most relevant to the participant; and a symposium in Chicago involving national and international conservationists. Faculty from the three Chicago institutions will also visit the home countries of the participants to assist them in the difficult task of applying their new skills. Faculty will help them organize workshops, short courses, seminars and research and management programs.

Thirty-six participants (twelve each year) will be trained in the program.

About the Author
Karen Lappa is the Media Relations Manager for the Brookfield Zoo.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 35 November/December 1993