About Conservation Force
Conservation Force is a non-profit charitable public foundation, an international organization with partners worldwide. Its purposes are wildlife conservation, education, research and serving the greater public good. It serves the public through support and development of conservation infrastructure locally, nationally, and internationally. It is a comprehensive organization that functions as a worldwide communications center and information source, monitor, advisory think tank, and pro-active advocate for its conservation purposes. Their aim is to aid, support, and complement other organizations (a consortium of approximately 100 organizations) rather than compete, and thus be a positive addition to the overall capacity of the conservation community. It supports, and is supported by, a federation of partner organizations from the International Foundation for the Conservation of Wildlife (IGF) in Paris to the Dallas Ecological Foundation in Texas.
MISSION: Conservation of wildlife and wild places.
Conservation Force stands for three things: first, that hunters and anglers are an indispensable and essential force for wildlife conservation; second, that Conservation Force is a collaborative effort combining forces of a consortium of organizations; and third, that Conservation Force itself is a proactive force to be reckoned with because of its record of conservation successes.
- Wild places include the ownership, holding, and management of conservation and mitigation bank land easements to restore and preserve the wild, natural state, and recreational use of land forever. It includes protecting the natural, scenic, or open-space values of land.
- Wild places also include wetlands and marine habitat around the globe.
- Conservation includes but is not limited to communal-based natural resource management (CBNRM) projects around the globe.
Conservation Force and The International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation
The organization, through its President John J.Jackson III, and its Secretary, Chrissie Jackson, has been active in the CIC since it was founded in September 1997, though it was just officially admitted as an INGO member of the CIC this year. The CIC was one of the founding supporters of Conservation Force in its early years; specifically through Baron Bertrand des Clers of the CIC; and past CIC President, His Imperial Highness Prince Abdorreza Pahlavi of Iran, and IGF funded Conservation Force’s monthly publication, the World Conservation Force Bulletin, until after his death in 2004. Conservation Force also coordinates with the CIC at CITES, IUCN, and other international meetings around the globe.
John Jackson III served as the President of the CIC’s Sustainable Use Commission from its inception until it was dissolved and as a Vice President of the Big Game Commission for even longer. Chrissie Jackson was the Head of the U.S. Delegation of the CIC during that same time. Many of the projects of the CIC Sustainable Use Commission were funded or co-funded by Conservation Force at the time.
For over a decade, John Jackson was the representative of the CIC at the CITES CoPs and at the IUCN World Conservation Congresses. After Mr. Jackson’s successful reform of two CITES Resolutions exempting RES. Conf. 2.11 governing the trade of trophies of Appendix I species and Quota Resolution for hunting trophies, the couple received an Honorary Membership in the CIC by Nicolas Franco.
Before Conservation Force was formed, John Jackson and Chrissie Jackson attended CIC events as Chairmen of Safari Club International’s Governmental Affairs and Conservation Committees, Vice President and President of SCI, and with Chrissie Jackson as President of the SCI Sables and Vice President of SCI.
A Force for Wildlife Conservation
The following was the message from CIC President, George Aman, at the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of Conservation Force
“The sand grouse was carrying water in his breast feathers to combat a forest fire. The jackal asked him: Do you think that you can extinguish the fire with the water in your feathers? The grouse answered: I know that I won’t be able to do it alone, but I am doing my part; then others may come and help.
The moral of this story is obvious. Sometimes we need inspiration and guidance from true leaders in wildlife conservation. The CIC wishes all the best for the 20th birthday of Conservation Force for being one of these inspirational “sand grouse” associations. Conservation Force is fighting against the savage wildfire of planet Earth, which is biodiversity loss. They have been battling biodiversity loss in the last 20 years with various projects, which all are based on the sustainable use of wildlife. Their work in conservation spans across a wide area of subjects from well-known issues such as poaching to the conservation of lesser known species, such as the barasingha or Eld’s deer.
We are proud to have Conservation Force among our members in the CIC!”