Mission
Vision
Our Goals
To accomplish this vision, we have identified three goals which will serve as guideposts in our conservation journey.
Strengthen Conservation Planning Delivery
Strengthen conservation planning delivery nationwide so producers receive consistent, high-quality support.
Expand Workforce Capacity and Certification
Build the professional capacity of conservation planners through accessible training, certification, mentoring, and shared resources
Advance Locally Led Conservation
Advance voluntary, locally led conservation that supports long-term environmental health and agricultural sustainability.
Project Teams
In 2025, the National Conservation Planning Partnership began a strategic realignment to strengthen conservation planner certification and the conservation delivery system. To advance this work, NCPP formed two dedicated project teams: Training and Marketing
Training
This team aims to make conservation planner certification clear, accessible, and efficient.
Key efforts include:
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Defining shared language and expectations across partners
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Launching a streamlined hybrid certification training pathway
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Creating tools that support career growth from onboarding through certification and beyond
Marketing
This team works to elevate the story of conservation planning and strengthen connections across the conservation community.
Key efforts include:
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Showcasing real-world stories and resources on the NCPP website
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Delivering timely, relevant content across digital channels
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Gathering practitioner feedback to guide future content
Initiatives & Accomplishments
Listening, Learning, and Leading: How NCPP Strengthens Conservation Planning
NCPP’s work is rooted in a simple belief: the best way to advance conservation planning is to listen to the people who deliver it every day. Over the past decade, we have gathered insights from thousands of conservation professionals, learned where systems need support, and taken meaningful steps to lead improvements across the country.
Listening
From the start, NCPP has prioritized hearing directly from planners, producers, and partner organizations. Our ongoing listening efforts include:
- 2015 surveys and producer interviews provided insights from more than 5,000 participants, helping NCPP understand the challenges and opportunities in conservation planning.
- 2018 nationwide listening sessions created a space for planners to share concerns and ideas. These conversations produced a detailed FAQ document and a comprehensive list of recommendations for future action.
- 2024 listening session in San Diego and a nationwide follow-up survey that collected perspectives from people in all 50 states. The results elevated four priority areas: training, IT tools, local working groups, and workload/staffing.
- 2025 training survey of employees that helped shape the pilot trainings.
Through these ongoing listening efforts, NCPP has created an open, practical, and supportive dialogue with the conservation community—one that continues to guide our work.
Learning
Listening is only the first step. NCPP leadership is committed to studying feedback and turning it into a clear, actionable roadmap.
- In 2019, a three-day internal work session transformed years of input into a structured priority system. This framework helped evaluate suggestions, align them with shared values, and prioritize actions.
- The result was a list of ten initial projects, later expanded to fifteen, each designed to address pressing needs in conservation planning.
- Insights also shaped state-level conservation planning, with states developing plans in collaboration with the NCPP partners.
- Leadership trainings in 2021 and 2022 deepened understanding around workplace challenges, leadership skills, and technical updates—preparing leaders to better support their teams.
- In 2025, partner leaders approved the Strengthening the Conservation Planning Pipeline strategy.
Leading
NCPP has used these insights to deliver meaningful, national-scale initiatives and improvements in conservation planning. Key initiatives have included:
- Strategic Policy Contributions: Provided NRCS with recommendations on planner designation levels and advocated for increased flexibility for states.
- Conservation Planning Certification Tracking: Currently collaborating on building a centralized registry to help track conservation planner certification.
- Training Access Project: Developed nationwide recommendations to improve access to certification training, which resulted in revisions to the national policy that are now being implemented.
- Conservation Planning Part 2 Pilot Courses: Delivered four multi-day pilot courses that helped planners meet certification requirements through hands-on, field-based learning.
- Conservation Planning Hybrid Training Pilot: Introduced a streamlined, hybrid training format that combines required courses into one coordinated experience to make certification more achievable and accessible.
- Leadership Training: Hosted virtual and in-person sessions that equipped leaders with practical tools to address workplace challenges, strengthen planning skills, and support more effective teams.
- Communication Strategy: Implemented a communications plan that keeps conservation staff informed, supported, and engaged through timely, relevant updates.
- Resource Development: Evaluated the needs of conservation professionals and created a strategy for developing practical tools and resources that support their growth and strengthen conservation planning.
- Local Working Group Guidebook: Now one of NCPP’s most-used resources, supported by in-person outreach across the country.
- National Forums: CD CART forums engaged more than 2,000 participants and strengthened collaboration and shared learning across the partnership.
- Celebrating Excellence: Launched the Hugh Hammond Bennett Award to honor producers and planners who exemplify outstanding conservation leadership.
Together, these initiatives reflect NCPP’s role as a practical, supportive, and motivating leader—committed to strengthening the conservation planning profession and improving conservation delivery across the nation.
