HI All,

Here is an idea that I have been mulling over and working on with some colleagues, and I'd value feedback on whether it is worth pursuing. My starting premise is that the main route in to the conservation profession is through a limited number of competitive, paid positions or through volunteering until you get noticed- this latter route excludes many potentially high calibre candidates, as they can't afford to volunteer their time, either financially or because they don't have the time alongside other, paid work.  On the other side, many conservation organisations have limited funds available to allocate to staffing and new funding streams are often short-term or project related and so require reaching out to known individuals to fill these temporary posts. 

Conservation-careers.com is one great example of a conservation-tailored careers site that enables organisations and potential employees to connect with each other, in particular over more permanent or at least longer-term contracts.  Sites exist elsewhere within the commercial sector for marketing 'freelancers', communications people etc. for shorter-term contracted positions.  But I'm not aware of a similar, tailored facility for connecting conservation organisations with individuals with expertise (who may come from a wide variety of sectors) over short-term conservation-related work.  

For example, an organisation might need some support work done (e.g. their website updated, a marketing plan developed, fund-raising proposal produced); or some core conservation work that they have secured a contract to deliver (e.g. completing a site biodiversity survey; developing a plan for an ex-situ facility; or producing education materials for a target audience).  Where would these organisations turn to to meet their capacity need?

I would be really interested to hear in particular from organisations, but also from individuals, as to whether or not this is a gap worth filling, possibly piggy-backing on an existing network, but with this focus on small-scale, short-term contractual positions- freelancing?- taking people a step above volunteering where they exchange work completed to the right standard with financial reward.  Please email me at conservecontracts@gmail.com if you have some thoughts. 

Thanks in advance for your advice!!

Jamie