Key Considerations for Applying
Tips for a Strong Certification Application
- Ensure that you have the right project types.
Be sure that you have the right project type(s) for the activities that you plan to include in your application. - Focus on the strongest project(s) first.
Use the project requirements to determine what would be your strongest project. Begin by working on that project as a qualifying project is needed for certification. You can always add other projects before applying or sometime in the future. - Document everything.
As you perform project activities such as monitoring, maintenance, and implementation, be sure to document your efforts. Providing documentation is a key requirement for certification. - Answer all questions fully.
Read through application questions carefully and ensure that your answer fully addresses the question. This is particularly important for text answers, where answers sometimes digress from the original question.
General shortcomings
The following are some of the most common reasons projects do not qualify for Conservation Certification. Please pay extra attention to these aspects of your application to help ensure that your program will be certified or re-certified.
Habitat Projects
- No inventory with recent date listing vegetation in the habitat
- Insufficient documentation of ongoing monitoring
- Project has not been on-the-ground long enough
Species Projects
- Does not target native species
- Does not address any habitat needs of the targeted species
- Insufficient documentation of ongoing monitoring
- Project has not been on-the-ground long enough
Education Projects
- Not conservation-focused (does not relate to a habitat and/or species)
- Insufficient documentation of assessment of learning and/or project logistics
Additional Information
There are a variety of materials available to help you ensure that you have a strong Conservation Certification application:
- On-Demand Webinars are available, Certification 101 & Certification 102 provide important information for submitting a strong application
- Scoring Sheets provide the specific scoring criteria for each project type
- Evaluation of Applications details what reviewers look for in scoring different criteria
- If you have questions any time during the process, contact conservationcertification@wildlifehc.org
