Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) is an innovative biological inventory program designed to use scientific information to catalyze conservation action. RAP methods are designed to rapidly assess the biodiversity of highly diverse areas and to train local scientists in biodiversity survey techniques. Since 1990, RAP’s teams of expert and host-country scientists have conducted 60 terrestrial, freshwater aquatic (AquaRAP), and marine biodiversity surveys and have contributed to building local scientific capacity for scientists in 26 countries. Biological information from previous RAP surveys has resulted in the protection of millions of hectares of tropical forest, including the declaration of protected areas in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil and the identification of biodiversity priorities in numerous countries.
