“It is hard to do justice to the great work of FOS in just a few lines. FOS has helped us enormously by interlinking science, conservation, and culture in a robust adaptive management approach. By working side-by-side with SPNL staff and members of local HIMA communities, FOS has helped ensure that the Syrian serin and the Common otter are back in the wetlands of Anjaar and K’far Zabad  in Lebanon!”

Assad Serhal | Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon; BirdLife M.E. Regional Committee

“Thanks to FOS Europe’s tremendous expertise and dedication, MAVA West Africa key conservation partners are not only able to define common priorities and strategies, but also to apply a coherent and agreed monitoring approach for implementation progress and effectiveness. This is a genuine change and a key condition for success in such multi-partner initiatives as ours, if lasting impact is to be achieved beyond individual actions.”

Charlotte Karibuhoye, PhD | West Africa programme, MAVA Foundation

“L’utilisation de la méthode « Open Standards » pour le développement de la stratégie 2018-2027 du PRCM a constitué pour nous une innovation qui a permis de produire d’une manière participative un document stratégique de qualité et de faciliter grandement sa mise en œuvre et son suivi. Le PRCM se réjouit d’avoir collaboré avec l’équipe de FOS Europe dans le cadre de la formation des acteurs ouest africains sur cette méthode et son application pour développer son cadre stratégique.”

Ahmed Senhoury | PRCM

“In FOS Europe we really found the involved guidance we needed for the complicated task of switching to adaptive management. We are impressed with their knowledge of the Open Standards and all aspects concerned with nature conservation worldwide. There has been a great balance in providing knowledge, being our very critical friend and guiding us towards workable solutions. We are now (even more)  clear on what we are trying to achieve with our work. And that the FOS staff are both smart and nice, make it a pleasure to work with them.”

Fred Wouters | Vogelbescherming Nederland (Birdlife Netherlands) 

“Nature conservation needs a professional approach – this is where FOS can help. FOS Europe supported us in several joint workshops to build our Adaptive Management capacity. We are since better in identifying effective and feasible conservation strategies and making informed management decisions when implementing our projects.”

Uli Gräbener | Michael Succow Foundation

“As a true testament, many of the almost 40 participants representing 7 countries, governments, NGOs, academia and industry commented to me about how effective the facilitators were. It was truly an inspiring and positive experience and I really feel that the end product sets us up well to move forward with on the ground conservation actions that will be directed in the most meaningful way.”

Alaine Camfield, PhD | Canadian Wildlife Service

“FOS has been an invaluable partner in helping us apply the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation for developing a multi-year work plan across the seven units of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Previously managed independently of one another, we now have an integrated framework for focusing our collective efforts and investing our limited resources in strategies and actions that will have the greatest conservation outcomes as well as provide human well-being benefits in alignment with our mission.”

Anne Morkill | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

“In collaborating with Measuring Impact, we used the Theory of Change approach that tested our assumptions and hypotheses in fisheries management, beyond the usual focus on results and deliverables. We began to realize that we were shifting our mindset from understanding “what we are doing” to “what is the effect of our action.” We became more conscious about leaps of faith, sought evidence, reflected on our actions, learned and adapted. Our program strategies became more deliberate towards reaching our goal on marine biodiversity conservation.”

Rebecca Guieb | USAID/Philippines

“The staff at FOS have been fantastic to work with! Caroline has helped our team develop two very successful conservation strategies through the Open Standards process. She is able to steer our working groups through complicated discussions about how to formulate effective conservation strategies and help us think through how each strategy connects to the larger effort.”

Aimee Weldon | USFWS/Atlantic Coast Joint Venture

“We can always count on FOS to be fully prepared and ready to lead. They help with everything from formulating meeting agendas, facilitating partner discussions, designing and leading workshops, synthesizing results and overall helping to guide us through a process that gets us to where we want to go. I feel like they are a member of our staff who cares just as much as we do about our work. I cannot recommend them more!”

Aimee Weldon | USFWS/Atlantic Coast Joint Venture

“FOS provided the training and guidance we needed to apply the Open Standards and improve conservation practices in the National Wildlife Refuge System. As a result, we are increasing our capacity to practice evidence-based conservation and ultimately increasing our likelihood of conservation success.”

Giselle Block | U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service