Our Solution

A radical new approach to wildlife conservation in Asia

Our Solution: the Last Forests Model

Last Forests (formerly Asian Arks) creates refuges in which Asian wildlife populations can recover and thrive for generations to come. Our model of direct management is a response to the current biodiversity crisis and allows us to re-build the foundations of conservation using a truly adaptive, transparent approach. By forging long-term agreements with local communities and governments, we assume full responsibly for the protected areas in which we invest, including law enforcement and all of the other components integral to conservation success.

Direct management

Asian Arks does one thing and one thing only: directly manage land for wildlife conservation in Asia. We take four routes to that end:

Manage existing protected areas on behalf of governments under Public–Private Partnership agreements, which is the highly successful African Parks model.
Bid for and run economic land concessions such as logging concessions as de facto protected areas.
Bid for and manage biodiversity offset areas as protected areas in partnerships with governments and industry.
Buy land for wildlife conservation.

The Last Forests approach differs from that of other conservation organizations in Asia in that we do not act as technical partners or co-manage areas. Instead, we take direct responsibility for the areas we manage.

Long-term commitment

We only work where we can obtain long-term, contractual mandates to manage protected areas and, where appropriate, run concessions, offset sites, and purchased land as de facto protected areas.

A business approach to conservation

We will maintain a focus on a very clear, well-defined mission: the direct responsibility for the long-term management and rehabilitation of land for wildlife conservation.

Unlike many other organizations, we will not engage in a wide diversity of activities scattered across landscapes, dilute our efforts by engaging in policy fora, or allow donors’ priorities to change our mission.

Active community engagement

We engage actively with the communities who most depend on the biological resources where we work and seek their active participation in managing and protecting those resources.

Transparency & accountability

Key features of our approach also include transparency and assuming 100% accountability for ensuring the success of the areas we manage.

We will make all monitoring data available on our website (except in those cases where the security of highly endangered species precludes such an option).

100% accountability for ensuring the success of the areas we manage

At each site we manage, we will…

iStock

Be responsible for the entire law enforcement component

and for all other personnel, making sure they are properly equipped, trained, and managed in a way which allows them to be as effective as possible.

Rehabilitate wildlife habitat, where necessary

and reintroduce species that have become locally extinct.

Actively manage animal populations

to optimize their long-term viability, including by means of translocations between sites.

Work with partners to implement community programs

to maximize the benefits to local people flowing from the areas in which we work and mitigate any adverse effects from these areas on communities, especially due to human–wildlife conflict.

Engage with the private sector

to test and implement both proven and innovative mechanisms for securing sustainable financing including Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) and environmentally-responsible tourism to help ensure the financial viability of the areas we manage and to maximize their economic and social impact.

Adopt proven, scientific monitoring methods

to assess Asian Arks’ effectiveness, thus enabling us to identify which management interventions are having the intended impact. By doing so, we will be able to rapidly and iteratively adapt our activities to maximise conservation gains.

Fully exploit advances in technology

Such as remote sensing, ground-based automatic monitoring units, and data-fusion technologies so that our protected area managers will have cost-effective, real-time measures of the threats to and trends in biodiversity in their areas.