Changing the way people relate to nature
Rare specializes in social marketing – a method for changing attitudes and behaviors that has been successfully applied by other organizations to such issues as seatbelt use, smoking, pollution, teen drug abuse, and reproductive health.
Rare is the leader in social marketing for biodiversity conservation — with a successful track record in more than 50 countries to date. We train and support leaders from the world’s top environmental organizations, local grassroots groups, and governments – all of which are increasingly aware that failure to create support at the community level reduces the chance of conservation success.
Where is social marketing most urgently needed?
Rare works primarily in the developing tropics. Home to more than half of the world’s population, some of its most rapidly growing economies, and the richest remaining stores of biodiversity, the tropics will in large part determine the fate of our global natural resources.
What is Rare’s approach?
Rare has a proven model for changing awareness, attitudes, and behaviors toward conservation at the local level. It’s called a “Pride” campaign, and it inspires people to take pride in the natural assets that make their communities valuable and take action to protect them. Pride campaigns are intensive year-long marketing efforts that borrow private sector tactics and apply them to promoting more environmentally sustainable practices.
Many of the world’s largest conservation groups have requested Rare’s services to help build stronger local community support for their work. This includes The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Birdlife International, Audubon, the United Nations Environment Programme, the national governments of China, Mexico, Peru, and Indonesia, and many others.
Our Impact to Date
Rare has trained 158 local leaders in the developing world, whose campaigns have influenced more than 6.8 Million people living in 2,400 remote communities. (List of sites where we work)
Together with our partners, we have created new protected areas and better reserve management; reduced forest fires, illegal logging, destructive fishing and unsustainable agriculture; and saved multiple species on the brink of extinction.
You can find out more about Rare and our work at RareConservation.org or on our online community inspiring conservation RarePlanet.org.