Conducting a corruption-oriented situation analysis for conservation work: Guidance from experience

The document outlines a framework for conducting corruption-oriented situation analyses in conservation, emphasizing the benefits of understanding local power dynamics and perceptions of corruption. It provides guidance on defining scope, identifying stakeholders, and managing safety and confidentiality. Through three case studies in Latin America, Asia, and Europe, it demonstrates various methodologies—including vulnerability mapping, governance scoring, and legal framework analysis—to identify corruption risks in fisheries, community forestry, and spatial planning.

• Corruption-oriented situation analyses provide five primary benefits: improving the overall understanding of the problem, validating or refining the project's theory of change, clarifying local perceptions and social norms regarding what constitutes corruption, improving the understanding of actual power relations versus formal roles, and shifting the mindset of practitioners to be more comfortable incorporating anti-corruption activities.
• Defining the scope of an analysis typically begins with broad challenges and narrows down to specific problems. This can be achieved by breaking macro-problems into sub-problems (e.g., narrowing climate change to specific carbon-emitting sectors), focusing on critical processes (like fishing permits), specific supply chains, particular geographies, or key partners.
• Effective stakeholder engagement requires representation from multiple levels and constituencies, including local, regional, and national representatives, as well as potential opponents and supporters. The 'snowballing' technique is recommended to identify under-represented groups.
• When discussing corruption with stakeholders, practitioners should use a non-confrontational approach. This includes using alternative terms like 'vulnerability,' 'integrity,' or 'transparency' to avoid intimidating participants, and avoiding the goal of identifying individual culprits to protect researchers and respondents.
• Safety and confidentiality are paramount; the guide suggests implementing security protocols for staff and using informed consent forms and data anonymization to protect participants. Fieldwork is preferred over virtual research to better understand local social dynamics and infrastructure.
• Anti-corruption recommendations should be categorized into three approaches: Prevention (e.g., standardizing processes), Detection (e.g., whistleblowers and audits), and Enforcement (e.g., investigating and sanctioning).
• A case study in Latin America on artisanal fishing permits used a vulnerability map and a 1-4 scoring system for probability and impact to identify high-risk areas. It revealed that a lack of standardized processes and educational requirements for registration created significant corruption vulnerabilities.
• A case study in Asia on community forestry used a 'traffic light' scoring system (green, yellow, red) to assess governance principles like transparency and accountability. The analysis found that youth are particularly keen to engage in anti-corruption work to hold forestry management accountable.
• A case study in Europe on spatial planning utilized legal framework analysis to identify corruption risks associated with the discretionary powers of public officers. The findings led the team to shift from a reactive approach to a preventive one, participating in planning processes before environmental damage occurs.

APA

Cassolis, N. M. (2023). Conducting a corruption-oriented situation analysis for conservation work: Guidance from experience. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/253/7csx66653l_Corruption_oriented_SI.pdf

Chicago

Cassolis, Natalia Muñoz. Conducting a corruption-oriented situation analysis for conservation work: Guidance from experience. WWF International, 2023. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/253/7csx66653l_Corruption_oriented_SI.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cassolis |first1=Natalia Muñoz |title=Conducting a corruption-oriented situation analysis for conservation work: Guidance from experience |publisher=WWF International |date=May 2023 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/253/7csx66653l_Corruption_oriented_SI.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cassolis2023conducting, author = {Cassolis, Natalia Muñoz}, title = {{Conducting a corruption-oriented situation analysis for conservation work: Guidance from experience}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/253/7csx66653l_Corruption_oriented_SI.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }