Conservation Transformational

Conservation International, one of the largest (by budget and size) biodiversity conservation NGOs on the planet, has given itself a facelift. Gone is the familiar green rainforest silhouette (left) that has represented the organization for the past 23 years. In its place is a modern, minimalist expression of CI's new mission. A simple blue circle atop a green base represents, according to Peter Seligmann, Chairman and CEO of Conservation International, "A healthy blue planet supported by a green development path."

CI's new logo isn't merely cosmetic. The organization with marine and terrestrial projects in 31 countries has been transforming itself over the past two years to be the one-stop, all climate change all the time NGO for a new conservation reality. CI is now retooling its structure in order to safeguard all the ecosystem services (or what it's calling securities) we receive from nature.

All of CI's existing programmatic activities are being reviewed, evaluated, and retrofitted to fit within the identified global priority areas of climate change, food security, freshwater security, human health, cultural services and biodiversity protection. In some cases, longstanding focus areas, such as CI's Center for Environmental Leadership in Business Travel and Leisure Division--which in part hoped to steer cruise ships towards environmentally sustainable practices--are being reduced in capacity or phased-out entirely.

It's hard to argue the rationale for CI's shift in focus, particularly considering my own area of conservation focus. Human exacerbated climate change is responsible for some of the largest scale coral reef destruction currently threatening the existence of an entire marine ecosystem. As a result of bleaching events correlated to elevated sea surface temperatures, live coral cover in the Caribbean has declined by 80 percent and throughout the Indo-Pacific by 50 percent. And the creeping threat of acidified oceans as a result of CO2-saturated seawater portends the literal dissolution of reefs before our very eyes.

But I've got to wonder at what cost transformation. The logo, the redesign of existing work groups, the future of some long-standing conservation investments, and the air transportation back-and-forth of global field staff and senior staff over the past two years as CI re-imagined itself. And considering that CI has faced strong criticism in the past on big budgets-big PR-small outcomes, I would hope this metamorphosis is not just about capitalizing on a shifting conservation funding landscape that seem to be favoring a shovel-ready climate change focus.

For the moment, I'll harbor hope in the bold risk-taking.