History, Mission & Vision
Conservation planning doesn’t happen in isolation; it depends on collaboration, shared knowledge, and strong partnerships. To support this collaboration, five national conservation organizations have come together as the National Conservation Partnership. In 2014, these same organizations launched a focused initiative: National Conservation Planning Partnership (NCPP). This initiative was created to highlight the vital role that conservation planning plays in advancing voluntary conservation on private lands.
Locally led conservation requires consistent access to certified conservation planners. However, workforce shortages, uneven access to training, and variations in planning capacity across states had created a bottleneck between landowners seeking plans and the professionals certified to create them. Through NCPP, the five partners address these challenges by expanding training opportunities, developing improved tools and processes, and ensuring that conservation professionals working directly with landowners have the support they need to develop high-quality plans.
The key national conservation partners are:
National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD)
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
National Association of State Conservation Agencies (NASCA)
National Conservation District Employees Association (NCDEA)
National Association of RC&D Councils (NARCDC)
Mission
Vision
Work Teams
To accomplish this vision, NCPP leadership has established Work Teams focused on advancing specific areas of need. As needs have changed over the past decade, so have the NCPP Action Teams.
Currently, there are two teams:
The Training team is focused on making the certification journey clearer, more accessible, and more efficient for conservation professionals. This team ensures there are viable pathways for conservation staff at the local and state levels to become certified conservation planners, and they help states create and implement workforce development plans. They also promote mentoring opportunities and on-the-job training programs across all partnership organizations.
The Marketing team is focused on elevating the story of conservation planning and strengthening
connections across the conservation community. Through effective communication plans, they raise public awareness of conservation planning and share success stories that demonstrate the value of NCPP’s mission.
– Hugh Hammond Bennett
– Hugh Hammond Bennett