Various organizations like Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund have initiated programs to conserve important islands or regions throughout the archipelago. To complement these large scale projects and approaches, we have initiated grass-roots programs throughout the Solomons. Our approach is three-fold. First, we involve local, young people in our research. This provides hands-on training, such as mist netting and diversity survey techniques, to local land stewards. Second, using information from our academic research, we give presentations to local schools and to tribal leaders. These presentations provide key information that forms the basis of successful long-term conservation initiatives. For instance, our work indicates that several island chains harbor unique endemic and newly-formed bird species, and we use this information to help local landowners realize that their flora and fauna are unique.