Our Work
Who We Are:
DOI-ITAP collaborates with other countries to help build capacity through on-site technical assistance, U.S.-based training, one-on-one exchanges, and train-the-trainer workshops. DOI-ITAP has worked in more than 60 countries worldwide through partnerships with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of State, and other funding partners.
DOI-ITAP facilitates interdisciplinary teams from across DOI, drawing from 70,000 world-class technical experts from DOI bureaus and offices with applied technical expertise, domestic and international experience, and relevant language skills, including:
DOI’s expertise includes, among many others:
- Habitat & Wildlife Management
- Sustainable Tourism
- Environmental Law Enforcement
- Indigenous Peoples Issues
- Women's Environmental Leadership & Empowerment
- Combating Wildlife Trafficking
- Energy Development
- Mining
- Water Management
- Cultural Heritage Preservation
- Natural Disaster Mitigation
- Scientific research
- Mapping
- Outdoor recreation, and
- Visitor services and education
What We Do:
DOI-ITAP managers will:
- Engage in activities that reinforce the host-country government, DOI, and U.S. foreign policy priorities;
- Coordinate and guide specialized teams to foster direct and sustained government-to-government exchanges; and
- Partner with local and international NGOs and private contractors to support its activities.
Engaging counterparts in other settings provides DOI employees with opportunities to strengthen their own skills to enhance their work here in the U.S.
Our Initiatives:
- Combatting Wildlife Trafficking
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DOI-ITAP works with other countries to help strengthen environmental law enforcement, including those related to counter wildlife trafficking (CWT), protected areas, CITES, and others. Below are selected examples of this work:
Central American Wildlife Enforcement Network (CAWEN): established and continue to strengthen CAWEN, the first operational wildlife enforcement network in Latin America.
- Primary Partner: State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES), in support of Central America and the Dominican Republic.
CITES Regulations in Chile: Bolstered Chile’s regulations to meet minimum compliance for the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Law was just signed by the Chilean President.
- Primary Partner: State Department/OES
Wildlife Crime Scene Investigation in East Africa: Increased capacity within law enforcement personnel in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda on wildlife crime scene investigations.
- Primary Partner: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/Kenya and USAID/East Africa.
CWT Assessments in South East Asia: Completed country specific CWT assessments in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Nepal, India, and Bangladesh that will inform the USAID Country Strategic Plans.
- Primary Partner: USAID/Regional Development Mission Asia (RDMA)
Philippines Supreme Court Adopted New Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases: Advised the Philippines Supreme Court Justices on the U.S. best practices to help draft these new rules to strengthen environmental law enforcement.
- Primary Partner: USAID/Philippines
END Act Strategy Development: In accordance with the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act (END Act), the U.S. Embassy in Kenya developed an interagency mission strategy to combat wildlife trafficking there. In support of this effort, Two DOI technical consultants contributed to a thorough and robust strategy that will inform the future work of DOI-ITAP in Kenya as well as that of State and USAID. on the U.S. best practices to help draft these new rules to strengthen environmental law enforcement.
- Primary Partner: USAID
Scientific cooperation in Kenya's northern rangelands: Technical specialists from NPS and USGS work with counterparts in Kenya to create databases, utilize historical records, and design models to inform decision-making.
- Primary Partner: USAID
Supporting civil society organizations in Kenya: Financial support to local organizations such as Tsavo Trust, WildlifeDirect, Conservation Alliance of Kenya, and IUCN to support their work in addressing the local drivers of poaching and human-wildlife conflict.
- Primary Partner: USAID
Factsheets & News
Combatting Wildlife Trafficking Factsheet (375.88 KB)East Africa- Combating Wildlife Trafficking (CWT)
Asia & Pacific Islands:
- Energy and Minerals
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DOI-ITAP helps to build capacity on regulating and managing activities related to oil and gas and renewable energy, both on-shore and off-shore, as well as mining. Below are selected examples of DOI-ITAP work on Energy and Minerals.
Mining Regulations in Indonesia: Advised Indonesia Ministry of Mines on strategic decentralization of government role and responsibilities for mining activities.
- Primary Partner: USAID/Indonesia
Renewable Energy Systems in Jamaica and Panama: Installed clean energy alternatives (e.g., photovoltaic, solar water heaters, and wind turbine systems) in protected areas in Jamaica and Panama. Reduced energy consumption by up to 95%, and one off-grid site in Panama now generates 100% of energy needs.
- Primary Partner: State Department/Western Hemisphere Affairs
Oil Spill Response: Helped develop oil spill response plans in Guyana, Colombia, Mexico, Liberia, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka.
- Primary Partner: State Department/ENR
Offshore Oil and Gas Environmental Protection and Safety in Mexico: Helped develop improved regulations for the offshore oil and gas sector in Mexico.
- Primary Partner: State Department/Bureau of Energy Resources
Factsheets & News
Conventional Energy Responsibilities & Expertise Factsheet (374.02 KB) - Conservation
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DOI-ITAP collaborates with other countries to better manage protected areas and cultural heritage sites. Below are selected examples of DOI-ITAP work on Conservation:
Mitigating Infrastructure Impacts to Wildlife in the Mekong: Mitigated threats to imperiled species of fish and other aquatic organisms stemming from the construction of dams on the Mekong River. Provided training and technical assistance on fish migration, fish genetics, and fish passage to the Government of Laos.
- Primary Partner: USAID/RDMA
Women Leaders Forum (WLF) in Southeast Asia: Helped establish the WLF as an ongoing platform to build the capacity of women from throughout the Coral Triangle countries, particularly at the community level, to assume leadership roles to sustainably manage the area's coastal and marine resources.
- Primary Partner: USAID/RDMA
Biodiversity Assessment for Papua New Guinea: Assessed the country's biodiversity, through desk reviews and field work, highlighting threats and noting critical conservation strategies to reduce such threats and enhance conservation of the nation's natural heritage.
- Primary Partner: USAID/Pacific Islands
New Environmental Code in Cambodia: Advised the Cambodian Government on a new national environmental code that includes protected areas and fisheries and wildlife, and other sectors.
- Primary Partner: USAID/ Regional Development Mission Asia (RDMA)
Protecting Archaeological Sites in Guatemala: Supported security measures, visitor education, and scientific research in select archaeological sites to advance science, improve tourism experience, and prevent looting.
- Primary Partner: Congressional Direct Apportionment via USAID/Guatemala
Land Use Mapping in Two Continents: Trained government ministries in West Africa and Southeast Asia on Landsat GIS software to help monitor land use changes that contribute to climate change, environmental degradation, and protected area management.
- Primary Partner: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/E3 and United Nations/Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Factsheets & News
- Sustainable Tourism
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DOI-ITAP works closely with representatives of government, civil society and local communities to improve the management, visitor education and economic benefits from sustainable tourism in protected areas. Below are selected examples of DOI-ITAP work on Sustainable Tourism:
Regional Business Forum for Coral Triangle Countries: Supported the “4th Regional Business Forum,” a global event on sustainable tourism development in the Coral Triangle countries. Over 300 stakeholders from over 20 countries participated to promote ongoing multinational dialogue to strengthen sustainable tourism and coastal and marine conservation in this region.
- Primary Partner: USAID/ Regional Development Mission Asia (RDMA)
Enhancing Tourism Experience in Bangladesh Protected Areas: Designed and generated state of the art regulatory and interpretive signage for use throughout the country's protected areas system to enhance the Bangladesh protected area units as appealing domestic and international tourist destinations.
- Primary Partner: USAID/Bangladesh
Strengthening Indonesia's National Parks and Wildlife Protection: Strengthened park management in Indonesia through the establishment of two “sister protected areas” with U.S. national parks and wildlife refuges. Provided advanced, field-based training and technical assistance on hydrological restoration, peatland management, species inventory and monitoring, and sustainable tourism.
- Primary Partner: USAID/Indonesia
Park Roads Design & Maintenance in Tanzania: Due to the heavy reliance on vehicular tourism in Tanzania National Parks, trained local staff on the design of tourism access roads that would least affect the resources and minimize maintenance.
- Primary Partner: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/Tanzania
Marine Turtle Protection in Oman: Improved protected area management for tourism and scientific research for marine turtle conservation.
- Primary Partner: State Department/ Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES)
Environmental Education in Jamaica: Developed educational materials that were adopted by Jamaica’s Discovery Bay Center, a popular environmental education center for tourists and students. Educational materials projected climate change impacts and mitigation options for the facilities, as identified through a DOI/National Park Service vulnerability assessment.
- Primary Partner: Department of State/ Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA)
- Public Participation
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DOI-ITAP works with NGOs, local communities, indigenous peoples, women, and youth groups to enhance public participation to hold governments more accountable and promote partnerships for natural resources management. Below are selected examples of DOI-ITAP work strengthening Public Participation:
Public Participation in Guatemala: Launched the public-private-civil society forum to promote information sharing and consensus building on protected area management. This model has been replicated and institutionalized in other geographic areas.
- Primary Partners: Congressional Direct Apportionment via USAID/Guatemala and State Department/OES
School Children Attend Marine Science Camp in Chile: With the Chilean Government and more than 30 partner organizations, designed and led a 3-day science camp program for 100 school children, teachers and university students from throughout Chile The camp curriculum followed NOAA's Principles of Ocean Literacy.
- Primary Partner: State Department/OES
Indigenous Leaders Peer Exchange U.S.-Colombia-Peru: Led a peer exchange for indigenous leaders and government officials from Colombia and Peru to the U.S. to review best practices for extractive industries in indigenous territories. The activity included exchanges with DOI/Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) management in Colorado and with the Crow Nation leadership in Montana.
- Primary Partner: USAID/South America Region
Youth & Education in Jordan: Helped established "Junior Ranger Program" for young people living near Petra Archaeological Park focused on celebrating natural and cultural heritage.
- Primary Partner: USAID/Jordan
Community-Based Wildlife Management Areas in Tanzania: Strengthened local community management of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) through training, equipment provision, and infrastructure development. These efforts enhanced the status of the WMAs as tourism destinations, which in turn provides economic benefits to the local communities.
- Primary Partner: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/Tanzania
Community-Based Tourism in Morocco: Supported women’s cooperatives involved in promoting environmental conservation and income generating activities, such as the marketing and commercialization of Argan Oil.
- Primary Partner: State Department/Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES)
Factsheets & News
Supporting Security, Stability and Governance Overseas Factsheet (403.43 KB) Preserving and Managing Cultural Resources Factsheet (413.34 KB) Youth Engagement in Natural and Cultural Resource Conservation Factsheet (433.23 KB) - Water Management
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DOI-ITAP supports and works with NGO's and host country governments to strengthen water management capacities in support of the growing global water crisis. Below are selected examples of DOI-ITAP work on water management:
Ambassador’s Water Experts Program (AWEP): DOI-ITAP partners with host country governments to strengthen water management and technical capacities in areas such as hydrology, hydropower, water resource dispute management, irrigation, water sanitization, water quality management, flood prevention, and water reclamation.
- This is DOI-ITAP's ongoing, cross-regional program in support of the U.S. Global Water Strategy.
- Primary Partner: U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES)
Hydropower in the Lower Mekong: Provided expert advice and guidance on mitigating environmental impacts of hydropower development on the Lower Mekong River.
- Primary Partner: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/ Regional Development Mission Asia (RDMA)
Factsheets & News
Water Management - Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong (SIM) Factsheet (384.45 KB) Water Resources Management - English Factsheet (442.99 KB) Water Resources Management - Spanish Factsheet (354.46 KB) U.S. Ambassador's Water Experts Program - English Factsheet (429.16 KB)
