Our Focus

Conservation

Sustainable management of conservation areas

A consensus has emerged on the importance of focusing on biodiversity conservation and habitat and resource management at landscape and seascape levels. Many critically important landscapes exist in areas where development pressures are increasing and public governance and financing struggles to keep up. Practitioners must now identify solutions that address gaps in capacities, leadership, institutions, policies and financing that prevent effective conservation management. Success requires adequate planning and resources (human and financial), sound consideration of costs, and collaborative management strategies between communities, government and the private sector. Starling Resources has deep experience building the institutions, capacities, financing mechanisms and underlying polices that are required for field-based implementation of conservation initiatives.

Sustainable management of conservation areas Projects

Bird’s Head Seascape MPA Management Program
Project summary
The Bird’s Head Seascape (BHS) in West Papua is one of the most bio diverse marine environments in the world and provides critical support for more than 700,000 people. However, these vital resources are under threat from poorly planned development, destructive and intensive fishing, climate change and other factors. Since 2005, a collaboration between local governments, Conservation International (CI), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and others has successfully established more than 3.5 million ha of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) across Raja Ampat, Kaimana, Tambrauw and Cenderawasih Bay.

After providing financial and operational analysis and advisory to the early planning and development stages of the BHS initiative, Starling Resources in 2012 began to develop and implement a comprehensive sustainability strategy for the MPAs to correspond with the eventual drawdown in donor funding and NGO presence.
Our services
Working closely with local governments, NGO partners, and local CSOs, Starling Resources designed and implemented a comprehensive sustainability strategy for the BHS protected areas focusing on developing the following:
Sustainable financing
- Maximizing government budget allocations by supporting medium-term development planning (RPJMD), annual strategic planning (Renstra), and annual budgeting processes (RBA)
- Increasing independent revenue streams by redeveloping an ecosystem services tourism fee that now generates over $700,000 annually; and the deployment of the first public service agency (BLU) for conservation in Indonesia
- Designing a multi-million-dollar conservation trust fund to fill financing gaps, including financial projections, fund structure and design, and other details
Capable MPA management
- Developing regulatory and political support for the MPA management body
- Strengthening the MPA management body through the development of organizational structure and staffing, management plans, and operational procedures and systems
- Providing individual capacity development and mentoring including the delivery of numerous management-related curricula and the seconding of a full-time mentor
Constituencies of support
- Working with our partner, SeventyThree, to identify and position local beneficiaries as strong advocates for the MPAs
Project term
2011 – present
Clients and Partners
- Walton Family Foundation (Client)
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation (Client)
- Trust for Conservation Innovation (Partner)
- Conservation International (Partner/Client)
- The Nature Conservancy (Partner)
- World Wide Fund for Nature (Partner)
- 73 (Partner)
Project documents and reports
Palau Conservation Society Institutional Development
Project summary
The Palau Conservation Society (PCS) was formed in 1994 and remains Palau’s leading local NGO dedicated to protecting Palau’s natural resources. PCS focuses on supporting various constituencies throughout Palau with regard to conservation and resource stewardship. Starling Resources has worked closely with PCS over many years to support development of organizational strategies, procedures, and capacities, and to improve financial sustainability.
Our services
PCS worked with Starling Resources in order to improve its financial and operational performance. Our team helped PCS develop a variety of management strategies and organizational development tools to promote more effective organizational management and worked one-on-one with key staff to support individual management skill development. Specific strategies and tools included an organizational business and strategic plan, cost recovery strategy, and an organizational cost model to monitor revenue and expenses, as well as timesheets, staff and supervisor evaluation forms, fundraising databases and internal budgets.
Project term
2009 - 2014
Clients and Partners
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation (Client)
- Trust for Conservation Innovation (Partner)
Project documents and reports
- Palau Conservation Society Business Plan
- Palau Conservation Society Cost Recovery Strategy

Conservation finance and planning

Starling Resources designs conservation management and finance solutions at site and landscape levels on behalf of private, government, corporate, and multilateral investors. Our work focuses on the development of operational and financial management frameworks for protected areas (PAs) and systems of PAs, as well as other conservation programs and efforts. We conduct detailed assessment and analysis of conservation management scenarios, providing options and guidance for decision-makers, practitioners, governments and funders to make informed decisions.

Effective financial mechanisms and planning together play a crucial role in managing conservation and natural resource management. Over more than a decade, Starling Resources has developed and refined a detailed bottom-up cost and revenue model. Originally designed for conservation planning, this tool is now used across the breadth of our work to identify financing needs and strategies for environmental initiatives. Our business and financial planning work supports the design, development and operations of environmental NGOs, conservation initiatives and management bodies, conservation trust funds, and public, private and civil society organizations working to help communities preserve and manage natural resources.

Conservation finance and planning Projects

Phoenix Island Protected area (PIPA) Sustainable Financing Strategy
Project summary
Starling worked with New England Aquarium to develop a business plan for PIPA including assessment of MPA management costs, revenue sources and potential financial management structures to provide a sound financial footing for the management of this critical oceanscape.
Our services
Starling drafted the PIPA Business and Sustainable Financing Plan through a process of desk research, legal and regulatory review, in-country interviews with key PIPA stakeholders and the development of an Excel-based cost model to project PIPA costs and potential revenue sources in various scenarios. Starling examined organizational structures and processes to provide recommendations and considerations for design that would most effectively support the efficient funding of the PIPA partners (civil society, public and private sectors) from the PIPA Trust, and facilitate effective MPA management and operations.
Project term
2012 – 2013; 2018
Clients and Partners
- PIPA Trust
- New England Aquarium
- Conservation International
Project reports
Bird’s Head Seascape MPA Management Program
Project summary
The Bird’s Head Seascape (BHS) in West Papua is one of the most bio diverse marine environments in the world and provides critical support for more than 700,000 people. However, these vital resources are under threat from poorly planned development, destructive and intensive fishing, climate change and other factors. Since 2005, a collaboration between local governments, Conservation International (CI), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and others has successfully established more than 3.5 million ha of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) across Raja Ampat, Kaimana, Tambrauw and Cenderawasih Bay.

After providing financial and operational analysis and advisory to the early planning and development stages of the BHS initiative, Starling Resources in 2012 began to develop and implement a comprehensive sustainability strategy for the MPAs to correspond with the eventual drawdown in donor funding and NGO presence.
Our services
Working closely with local governments, NGO partners, and local CSOs, Starling Resources designed and implemented a comprehensive sustainability strategy for the BHS protected areas focusing on developing the following:
Sustainable financing
- Maximizing government budget allocations by supporting medium-term development planning (RPJMD), annual strategic planning (Renstra), and annual budgeting processes (RBA)
- Increasing independent revenue streams by redeveloping an ecosystem services tourism fee that now generates over $700,000 annually; and the deployment of the first public service agency (BLU) for conservation in Indonesia
- Designing a multi-million-dollar conservation trust fund to fill financing gaps, including financial projections, fund structure and design, and other details
Capable MPA management
- Developing regulatory and political support for the MPA management body
- Strengthening the MPA management body through the development of organizational structure and staffing, management plans, and operational procedures and systems
- Providing individual capacity development and mentoring including the delivery of numerous management-related curricula and the seconding of a full-time mentor
Constituencies of support
- Working with our partner, SeventyThree, to identify and position local beneficiaries as strong advocates for the MPAs
Project term
2011 – present
Clients and Partners
- Walton Family Foundation (Client)
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation (Client)
- Trust for Conservation Innovation (Partner)
- Conservation International (Partner/Client)
- The Nature Conservancy (Partner)
- World Wide Fund for Nature (Partner)
- 73 (Partner)
Project documents and reports
BHS Business Plan?
Palau Conservation Society Institutional Development
Project summary
The Palau Conservation Society (PCS) was formed in 1994 and remains Palau’s leading local NGO dedicated to protecting Palau’s natural resources. PCS focuses on supporting various constituencies throughout Palau with regard to conservation and resource stewardship. Starling Resources has worked closely with PCS over many years to support development of organizational strategies, procedures, and capacities, and to improve financial sustainability.
Our services
PCS worked with Starling Resources in order to improve its financial and operational performance. Our team helped PCS develop a variety of management strategies and organizational development tools to promote more effective organizational management and worked one-on-one with key staff to support individual management skill development. Specific strategies and tools included an organizational business and strategic plan, cost recovery strategy, and an organizational cost model to monitor revenue and expenses, as well as timesheets, staff and supervisor evaluation forms, fundraising databases and internal budgets.
Project term
2009 - 2014
Clients and Partners
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation (Client)
- Trust for Conservation Innovation (Partner)
Project documents and reports
- Palau Conservation Society Business Plan
- Palau Conservation Society Cost Recovery Strategy

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