Discuss within the conservation team, and externally with additional stakeholders as relevant, to narrow in on a few (we recommend 3–5) key challenges that will be taken forward into the next stage of planning.
Key challenges are those that incorporate multiple conservation primary interests, their connected social or economic primary interests and their most powerful drivers of change in the current system. The language used to describe key challenges may or may not include reference to specific primary interests that were identified to start the process. Key challenges are best stated as the connected set of current conditions that create current challenges for a majority of primary interests. Not all primary interests will be captured in key challenges. The situation analysis is a focusing exercise that allows the team to take forward the most critical challenges in the system, not all of them.
At this point, do not eliminate significant challenges for which no strategies are apparent, as strategy development occurs in a subsequent step.
There may be social or economic primary interests in the system that are not strongly connected to conservation primary interests. These should not be elevated as key conservation challenges, as they are not defensibly linked to conservation issues.
Examples of Key Challenges