The earth’s ecosystems comprise millions of species and underpin the well-being of all human societies. Knowledge about these ecosystems is our strongest tool to ensure the future of life on our planet — yet much of the natural world remains poorly known and unexplored.
Our role
Conservation International's Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) works to fill this void. RAP, founded in 1990, sends teams of experts on short expeditions into critically important field sites around the world. Experts at these sites evaluate the state of a region's biodiversity, the health of its ecosystems and the multiple benefits that nature provides to people. By doing so, RAP provides information that can guide effective decision-making about conservation.
Our plan
Today, RAP is evolving and expanding its scope. Building on the program’s legacy of discovering and assessing species, our strategy for RAP now integrates our understanding of the vital links among biodiversity, healthy ecosystems and human societies.
RAP surveys help provide the scientific foundation to:
- Design and create effective protected areas
- Work with communities to develop community-based conservation initiatives
- Assess, monitor, minimize and/or offset negative environmental and social impacts of major infrastructure and extractive projects
- Assess ecosystem vulnerability to climate change
- Support sustainable management of wild food sources (e.g., fish, bushmeat) and other ecosystem services (e.g., fresh water)
- Monitor environmental health and the status of threatened species
- Train the next generation of scientists and conservationists
- Engage and inform stakeholders, policymakers and the public
By the Numbers
20 million hectares
RAP has supported the creation, expansion and improved management of more than 20 million hectares (nearly 50 million acres) of marine and terrestrial protected areas — in addition to the discovery of more than 1,400 species new to science.
Standard field research takes years, but political leaders will not usually wait that long to make decisions affecting the most biologically important areas of Earth. RAP gathers relevant scientific information quickly enough to aid in protecting such places from irreversible damage that can occur on a very short time scale.
Murray Gell-Mann
Professor, Santa Fe Institute, and 1969 Nobel Prize recipient
What we measure
We work in rivers, rainforests, coral reefs and many other habitats around the world, often in remote, unexplored regions. RAP combines field surveys (usually lasting 2-4 weeks) that utilize cost-effective, standardized methods, innovative technologies and state-of-the-art analysis and planning. Recognizing that conserving biodiversity is fundamental to maintaining healthy ecosystems and the services that nature provides to people, we measure:
Biodiversity
We measure biodiversity attributes such as:
- species richness and abundance;
- species new to science;
- threatened and endemic species;
- indicator, keystone and flagship species; and
- species important to human livelihoods.
Ecosystem health and services
We also measure ecosystem health and services, including:
- habitat diversity, quality and structure (e.g., forest intactness, coral health);
- wild food, medicines, building materials and other provisioning services;
- water quality and flow;
- watershed connectivity; and
- forest carbon stocks.
Socio-economic, cultural and sustainable management data
Finally, we collect social and cultural data such as:
- the demography, livelihoods and needs of local communities;
- threats to natural resources; and
- options for sustainable management.
Timely, mobile science at scale
RAP provides the mobile, flexible and cost-effective tool required to generate the scientific data needed to protect nature and its benefits to people. RAP provides field data needed for conservation planning at the local to regional scale where many threats occur. In these cases, existing data and global datasets are sparse and insufficient. RAP also provides quick yet highly-informative descriptions of the ecological and social values of specific and often unknown areas, placing them within a global context to guide conservation priorities and improve conservation investments. The rapid nature of these assessments is intended to provide the information necessary to catalyze conservation action within a timeframe suited to decision-makers.
RAP expert scientists act as an ecological SWAT team to accurately assess the biodiversity and health of an ecosystem in a fraction of the time it would normally take.
Peter Seligmann
Conservation International Chairman of the Board
RAP report archive
RAP 1
Alto Madidi, Bolivia, 1990
RAP 2
Cordillera de la Costa, Ecuador, 1992
RAP 3
Columbia River Forest Reserve, Belize, 1993
RAP 4
Santa Cruz, Bolivia, 1993
RAP 5
Kanuku Mountain Region, Guyana, 1993
RAP 6
Tambopata-Candamo Reserved Zone, Peru, 1994
RAP 7
Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador and Peru, 1997
RAP 8
South Central Chuquisaca, Bolivia, 1997
RAP 9
Lakekamu Basin, Papua New Guinea, 1998
RAP 10
Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado, Bolivia, 1998
RAP 11
Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, 1998
RAP 12
Cordillera de Vilcabamba, Peru, 2001
RAP 13
Parc National de la Marahoué, Côte d'Ivoire, 1999
RAP 14
Northwestern Irian Jaya, Indonesia, 2000
RAP 15
Upper Río Orthon Basin, Pando, Bolivia, 1999
RAP 16
Laguna del Tigre National Park, Petén, Guatemala, 2000
RAP 17
Calamianes Islands, Philippines, 2000
RAP 18
Pantanal, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil, 2000
RAP 19
Río Paraguay Basin, Alto Paraguay, Paraguay, 2001
RAP 20
Togean and Banggai Islands, Sulawesi, Indonesia, 2001
RAP 21
Southern New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, 2001
RAP 22
Raja Ampat Islands, Indonesia, 2002
RAP 23
Réserve Naturelle Intégrale d’Ankarafantsika, Madagascar, 2002
RAP 24
Pampas del Heath, Perú; Alto Madidi, Bolivia; Pando, Bolivia, 2002
RAP 25
Yongsu - Cyclops Mountains and the Southern Mamberamo Basin, Papua, Indonesia, 2002
RAP 26
Eastern Kanuku Mountains, Lower Kwitaro River, Guyana, 2002
RAP 27
Okavango Delta, Botswana, 2003
RAP 28
Aquatic Ecosystems of the Caura River Basin, Bolívar State, Venezuela,
2003
RAP 29
Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea—Survey II, 2003
RAP 30
Ecosistemas Acuáticos en la Confluencia de los ríos Orinoco
y Ventuari, Estado Amazonas (Venezuela), 2006
RAP 31
Coral Reefs of Northwest Madagascar, 2005
RAP 32
Mantadia-Zahamena corridor, Madagascar, 2005
RAP 33
Aquatic Ecosystems of the Pastaza River Basin, Ecuador and Perú,
2005
RAP 34
Two Classified Forests in South-Western Côte d’Ivoire,
2005
RAP 35
Forêt Classée du Pic de Fon, Simandou Range, South-eastern
Republic of Guinea, 2004
RAP 36
Draw River, Boi-Tano, Tano Nimiri and Krokosua Hills forest reserves,
Ghana, 2005
RAP 37
Orinoco Delta and the Gulf of Paria, Venezuela, 2004
RAP 38
Abrolhos Bank, Brazil, 2005
RAP 39
Coppename River Basin, Suriname, 2006
RAP 40
Three Classified Forests in Southeastern Guinea, 2006
RAP 41
Boké Préfecture, Northwestern Guinea, 2006
RAP 42
Mont Panié, Province Nord, Nouvelle Calédonie,
2006
RAP 43
Lely and Nassau Plateaus, Suriname, 2007
RAP 44
North Lorma, Gola and Grebo National Forests, Liberia, 2007
RAP 45
Kaijende Highlands, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea, 2007
RAP 46
Lokutu, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2007
RAP 47
Atewa Range Forest Reserve, Ghana, 2007
RAP 48
Tumucumaque Mountains National Park, Amapá, Brazil, 2008
RAP 49
La Cuenca Alta del Río Paragua, Estado Bolívar, Venezuela,
2008
RAP 50
Ajenjua Bepo and Mamang River Forest Reserves, Ghana, 2008
RAP 51
Konashen Community Owned Conservation Area, Guyana, 2008
RAP 52
Mountains of Southwest China Hotspot, China, 2009
RAP 53
Coral Reefs of the Northwest Lagoon, New Caledonia, 2009
RAP 55
Los Ecosistemas Acuáticos de la Cuenca Alta del Río Cuyuní,
Guayana Venezolana, 2009
RAP 56
Ramal Calderas, Venezuela, 2010
RAP 57
Nakauvadra Range, Ra Province, Fiji, 2009
RAP 58
La Cuenca Alta del Río Nangaritza, Cordillera del Cóndor,
Ecuador, 2011
RAP 59
Nakorotubu Range, Ra and Tailevu Provinces, Fiji, 2009
RAP 60
Nakanai Mountains and the upper Strickland Basin, Papua New Guinea, 2011
RAP 61
Coral Reefs of Northeast Madagascar, 2011
RAP 62
Northeastern Lagoon from Touho to Ponérihouen,
New Caledonia, 2011
RAP 63
Kwamalasamutu region, Southwestern Suriname, 2011
RAP 64
Bali Marine Rapid Assessment, 2011
RAP 65
Mt. Panié and Roches de la Ouaième region, New Caledonia,
2013
RAP 66
Timor-Leste, 2013
RAP 67
Upper Palumeu River Watershed, Suriname, 2013
RAP 70
Chawi Grande, Bolivia, 2018
RAP 72
Ciudad del Jaguar, Honduras, 2019
RAP 73
Alto Mayo Landscape, San Martín, Peru, 2024
