How do you motivate a fisherman in Belize to use less destructive nets? A farmer in Paraguay to adopt organic practices? Community leaders in Indonesia to halt forest clearing? The answer lies in the science of behavior change – an arena in which Rare has practiced for more than 35 years.

Rare has developed a method for changing attitudes and behaviors called a Pride campaign – so named because it inspires people to take pride in the natural assets that make their communities unique and offers them viable means to protect these assets. Pride campaigns are based in social marketing – the use of private sector marketing tactics to “sell” social change. These tactics include audience segmentation; focus-group testing of highly targeted messages; use of multiple media vehicles and outlets to reinforce messages over a sustained period of time; and rigorous measurement of “product adoption” (i.e. new attitudes, behaviors, and sustainable alternatives).

Social marketing has been used for years to successfully tackle issues such as smoking, HIV-AIDS, and seatbelt use, but has not to date been fully tapped on behalf of conservation. So while many large organizations are working top-down on international regulations, corporate buying practices, and national systems of protected areas, Rare is focused on supporting their work from the bottom up. This means reaching millions of people who live in and around areas containing the highest levels of biodiversity … people whose day-to-day behaviors, livelihoods, and culture will greatly impact how well global conservation projects are sustained long term.