Top ranking for Wildlife Behaviour Change Toolkit

This encouraging development demonstrates the extent to which behaviour change and related fields such as Social and Behavioural Change Communications (SBCC) and social marketing, are now gaining traction as a valid set of strategic approaches to deliver meaningful conservation impact. 

Changewildlifeconsumers.org, launched in July last year, has been developed as a “one stop shop” communication platform and co-ordination hub for the demand reduction “Community of Practice” – all those with a stake, passion, interest or mandate in changing wildlife product consumer purchasing preferences, and buyer behaviour. It harnesses behaviour change expertise from a number of fields, not solely the wildlife sector. 

The website acts as a platform for exchange of insight, evidence, perspectives and experience, and also acts as a repository of relevant technical reference material and information resources. These include more than 100 research reports, policy papers and commercial insights, together with a members’ forum that encourages active discussion of ongoing issues. A regular newsletter and webinar library provide an inside view on the latest expert thinking. Forum members are encouraged not only to use the resources but to upload their own and share any relevant success factors and lessons learned. 

The website also provides Community of Practice members with a variety of tools for building their own behaviour change initiatives and gives examples of successful campaigns from the wildlife sector and other fields, whilst providing contextual information on the agreements and global declarations aimed at reducing the demand for wildlife products. 

Behaviour change is a thriving field and has been used in a range of areas, from promoting pro-environment and sustainable lifestyles, health and wellbeing, international development, preventing drug-taking, keeping young people in education and more. The expertise gathered has been made available by experts in these fields, to help support efforts to reduce demand for illegal wildlife products. 

For instance, the Chi initiative that promotes the notion that success and masculinity comes from within rather than from pieces of rhino horn is featured. It uses behaviour change as a new approach to tackling the illegal trading of rhino horn products by reducing the demand that ultimately fuels rhino horn trafficking. 

Going forwards, the Behaviour Change Toolkit will ultimately include details of events such as Expert Roundtables, Business Breakfasts, Learning Lunches, Masterclasses and more. 

The Toolkit has been developed by TRAFFIC and generously supported by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), and the World Bank.