hybrid NPO/private model for reef restoration& coral far

[bookfish]

In the past many NPO's and NGO's have only had to produce results sufficient to secure the next round of funding. As has been pointed out, this level of success would never be acceptable in private business.
In the past businesses have been allowed to operate with only the profit margin in mind. This would never be acceptable to any progressive NPO.
I believe a joint venture between public/private entities offers a realistic alternative.-Jim

 

[bookfish]

I was asked to start a new thread with this topic.
Please feel free to reply with any thoughts you may have.
If you feel you'd like to copy and and paste a post from another thread to consolidate the discussion here, please go ahead.
I'll leave the other thread but perhaps we'll have the discussion here.
Thx-Jim

 

[clarionreef]

In the past businesses have been allowed to operate with only the profit margin in mind. This would never be acceptable to any progressive NPO.

In the past NPO's have been allowed to operate with only grant money in mind. This would never be acceptable to any progressive business.

In the past businesses have been allowed to operate with only the profit margin in mind. This would never be acceptable to any progressive NPO.

keyword..PROGRESSIVE NPO. Something we have never seen on this subject matter.

What we have seen are NPOs that lust after the industrys gross and look for a way to tap into it to perpetuate themselves on it. The pretense to deal with environmental questions were just the 'justification' to gain entry to the revenue stream.
In conversations with the principals of the CCIFIin 2001, I was taken aback by the focus on the question on how to mandate a box charge on imports to pay for MAC and them.
Field topics [ where the reef and the fisherman are] were met with far less interest.

Coral farming...like recycling, has its own built in incentives...its a business and as such plays like a saviour as it operates like a responsible business should.
Then again, farmers plant....not to avoid ravaging the forest, but to harvest and make money. Turtle farmers breed turtles...to sell....
and freshwater fish farmers create swordtails and platies like a factory...not to save the common wild forms in Mexcio but to...earn money and prosper.

Responsible business should always involve in the field and help plant crops they intend to harvest.

Likewise, they should involve in the field to help legalize the collection process of fish taken illegally and in an unsustainable manner.
But thats where we tend to lose them. Its in the lessening of impact in wild extraction that we need environmental help....and have not gotten it.

I submit that we have not gotten it because the new age NPOs keep getting seduced into the grant money game and lose their original passion....the marine environment.
Steve

 

[bookfish]

I know that many NPO's tend to be very bureaucratic, top-heavy, administration machines. I think that the NPO in this model can be less burly due to it's specific involvement. The onus for part of the initial capitalization and administration of the daily ongoing work would would fall on the business while the field audits, documentation of results and grant chasing (hopefully not a lot of that) would be the responsibility of the NPO.
Please comment freely.-Jim

 

[Anonymous]

As long as NPOs go after grant money they will be top heavy, IMO. It takes a lot of effort to write grant applications; then it takes a lot of effort to keep the financial books up to snuff; then it takes a lot of effort to show and validate that the original grant effort was fulfilled. Since MO grants tend to be small that leaves little for the field efforts, again my opinion.

 

[clarionreef]

Lee,
Thats an opinion shared by many...especially on the inside.
People in bureacratic groups often observe the futility of their purpose over drinks...in private, by the pool after hours...but, tommorrow at 8:00AM...begins another day at the office.
Steve

 

[Kalkbreath]

Has anyone else seen thePen and Teller TV show "B*** S***"in which they examined the Endangered species act? What they exposed is that even with all the rules and regulations involved with animal protection acts, there have been very few species taken off the list [success stories] since the organization began. Of the few species that have made comebacks and the organization likes to hold up as success examples, like the American alligator and Gray whale........the endangered species act and all the bending over backwards americans had to do to comply with the enangered species act....... it had little to do with those species reestablishing themselves. US Whaling stopped decades before the organization was even created and the American alligator rebounded due to the tens of thousands of new habitats created by retention ponds and man made waterways in the sun shine state.
Even the spotted owl which was responsible for single handily killing the North west timber industry............Has been shown to have decreased in number due to the only now recognized fact that the owl only likes to nest in new forests.....NOT OLD GROWTH. So the endangered species legislation designed to protect the bird actually has harmed its chances of survival.
More often then not , emotion and science dont mix. The chances of putting together and organization like you suggest which is not fueled by emotion.... is unlikely. The next most common reason people join a save the **** organization is greed. Money or power. Those two dont make for good team members either.
Even if you find a good "shirts" squad to mix with the "skins" the chances of blue collar shirts getting along with white collar crowd as a dream team is at best ......well not likely. Having two teams compete for the objective through competition is the only way both sets of expertise will compliment each other without conflicting each other.
But then who gets to be the judge of the competition ?

 

[clarionreef]

Kalks right again!
The next most common reason people join a save the **** organization is greed. Money or power....but ego therapy should be added here as well...as it explains where many of the " believers" are coming from as they often do not share in the loot.
[In the aquarium trade we have seen 7 years in a row where a half dozen service guys serve as primary MAC advisors and cheerleaders as they were willing to trade co-operation for the feeling of importance and being a part of something big.]

And Lee also!
As long as NPOs go after grant money they will be top heavy, IMO. It takes a lot of effort to write grant applications; then it takes a lot of effort to keep the financial books up to snuff; then it takes a lot of effort to show and validate that the original grant effort was fulfilled.
As he underscored the African spokesman...
"When AID money keeps flowing, all our policymakers do is strategize on how to get more".
...the Kenya based director of the inter-region Economic Network , an African think-tank said.
They forget about getting their own people working to solve these very basic problems. In Africa we look to outsiders to solve our problems, making the victim not take responsibility to change."

These understandings are vital to understanding failure....because if the project is promoted for off-base reasons, its not going to be implemented nearly as well. The procurement of the funding becomes more the mission then the original mission . In fact, the procurement is the great victory before the fieldwork even begins. So, why do it well?
And as we have seen in the case of our industrys projects, it has not been done well.

It explains so much...
Steve

 

[PeterIMA]

Mr. Robinson continues to attack NGOs/NPOs and blame them for not solving the environmental problems (e.g., damage to coral reefs, depletion of fish stocks) partly caused by the marine aquarium fish trade (MAFT). The MAC is an NGO, but was established as an umbrella organization with participating member organizations from both NGOs and the aquarium trade. We had high hopes for reform of collection and handling practices in the MAFT. The fact that it is not succeeding (despite ample funding from the World Bank GEF) is not the fault of the member NGOs. One has to look at whether the member organizations from the MAFT are cooperating to allow the MAC programs to succeed. The truth appears to be that the MAFT organizations don't want to see true reform (e.g., net training, sustainable harvesting, adherence to common standards). Of course one can also blame government agencies in both the importing and exporting countries for not enforcing laws against destructive fishing, CITES regulations etc.

My point is that the NGOs should not be expected to do things alone. The MAFT also has to assume responsability and support true reform.

Peter Rubec

 

[clarionreef]

Peter,
If the trades corrupt...and irresponsible, as I have oft pointed out:
and if the tropical governments corrupt....and irresponsible, [ ditto ]
we don't need still more partners who behave the same way.
The bibical maxim...
" To he much is given...much is expected." rings true here.

The independance and capital awarded to NGOs who claim to have the answers in their grant proposals....frees them up to do good work.
And then....when they don't?
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Peter, if the MAFT NGO's don't want true reform like you said near the end of your post, wouldn't that be cause for an attack on their ethics and non performance? When is an OK time to call a spade a spade?

 

[Anonymous]

Peter, if the MAFT NGO's don't want true reform like you said near the end of your post, wouldn't that be cause for an attack on their ethics and non performance? When is an OK time to call a spade a spade?

when it's a hoe (sp )

 

[Anonymous]

of course, MAC's the biggest 'hoe' of them all :wink:

 

[PeterIMA]

I think we finally see some agreement (small light at the end of the endless tunnel). I will donate a spade if you guys donate one as well.

Peter

 

[clarionreef]

A spade a spade it is now.
Three years ago it was observed here that the emperor had no clothes.
Later. when they fade from the scene it will be hard to find anyone who will admit to have been supporters ....
Wait, its hard to find that today !

The sustainability of the trade is a serious question and they are not ...and never were a serious solution.
In fact, the yearly, routine failure to connect with the fisherfolk has perpetuated the inequity...and allowed far more coral to die then need be.
This org needs new leadership if it is to play a useful role in the search for a sustainable trade and needs it now.
Steve