Unlike Social Marketing, the Technical Assistance (TA) is based on more personal interactions with the fishers at the fishing group level (cooperatives or associations) or at the individual fisher level. This allows the issues to be addressed with more detail and depth, although larger groups of people are not reached. The overarching goal is to promote fishers´ support for conservation actions (e.g., creation of FRZ, adoption of sustainable fishing practices). Technical assistance tools are targeted towards building capacity in coastal communities and removing technical barriers, emphasizing leadership among fishers to improve the management of fisheries resources. Examples of technical assistance activities include one-on-one conversations, fishing trips, fisher exchanges among sites, formal training in specific fishing methods through workshops and courses, informal training, meetings with the authorities, follow-up with administrative and legal processes (e.g., fishing concession/permit renewal) and providing organizational materials (e.g., file cabinets, blackboards, etc.).

The pressures of hunting and logging are gradually mounting in most of the forest areas resulting in forest degradation and decline in wildlife. In this backdrop, community conserved areas become attractive targets for certain segments of the village community and people from neighboring villages involved in illegal hunting of wildlife and exploitation of natural resources. There are also poaching reports of musk deer for glands (or musk pods) and the Himalayan black bear for gall bladder, paws and skins. Though management committees of the respective community conserved area frame the rules and regulations preventing hunting, illegal logging and over extraction of medicinal plants or associate non-timber forest products, continuous monitoring is needed to ensure that these are implemented. Keeping this issue in mind, the management committee identifies at least ten youths who are responsible to patrol their conserved area following human/ animal trails, monitor illegal movement of any suspect, dismantle traps and collect periodic data on biodiversity. This component helps monitoring forest and wildlife as well as record biodiversity information on the conserved area supporting future management planning.

The majority of community development projects are funded either by cash, in-kind or specific donations from guests, NGOs, tourism camps or offices and various corporates. The private sector or an NGO can administer and distribute these donations as specified, or as required. Staff and transport used in the management and implementation of these projects is provided by Wilderness Safaris and partner NGOs. Wilderness Safaris facilitates, manages and administers guest donations towards various community development projects, including infrastructure development, support for schools, etc. Wilderness Safaris’ Children in the Wilderness (CITW) programme also provides environmental education to children in the Torra Conservancy, through weekly Eco-Clubs, as well as annual camps. For these camps, Damaraland Camp is closed to paying guests and CITW hosts rural children as guests in the camp on a fun-filled environmental education programme.

From the beginning of creation of the ICCA, the local community engaged in the monitoring of quality and quantity of fish catch, socio-economic change and ecosystem health.

In the last three years we have developed two public events per year that are heavily supported by volunteers. “EPA Guapi-Mirim Environmental Workshops Week” is held in school vacations in July. On each day there are two turns of workshops about themes like vegetable garden, dry toilet, first aids, handcraft reusing material, communitarian radio. The workshops are free and the teachers are from partner institutions. Each year there are around 500 people, mainly from the local community, attending the activities. “EPA Guapi-Mirim Anniversary Celebration” is held in the protected area headquarter. The main activity of the day has been recuperating river margins with young trees planting. Each year involves around 300 participants. These events are excellent opportunities to publicize the importance of this PA.

The Fishermen Association of the Rural Municipality of Mangagoulack (Casamance, Senegal) was informed that— following international CBD decisions and IUCN recommendations— Senegal was promoting and respecting locally established “community conserved areas”. The association thus mobilized the community to create Kawawana ¬ (“our local heritage to be preserved by us all”) in its ancien estuarine territory. In Kawawana, the ancient governance and management rules– renovated and agreed upon also by the municipal and regional governments – are finally again respected.

The aim of this activity was preservation of cultural sites and promotion of cultural tourism through reconstruction of buildings and production of information in order to improve knowledge of the past in Paanajärvi National Park in Russia. The border area was ravaged in past wars and the border shifted leaving parts of what is now Paanajärvi NP that belonged to Finland on the Russian side. Through understanding of the past we can learn from it and promote peace and cooperation in our time. Two buildings were constructed using an old building technique for log houses after models from the 1930s in the old Finnish settlement of Arola in Paanajärvi NP (now part of Russia) and one in the old Russian Karelian village of Vartiolampi. Information panels about the history of these sites were placed in the vicinity of the buildings and an exhibition of historical objects was set up in the building in Vartiolampi. Also history books were produced in order to highlight that the NPs share common roots and want to share a common future as well.

Resources, tools and specific training were provided to formal and informal education and communication structures. A local radio was created to support and feed the information and consultation dynamics, and extensive use of all possible media was made, particularly through support to several other community radios and TV channels, and the broadcasting of documentation. A film was made with a local team about the process. This provided the opportunity to offer training on film shooting and editing. The film was broadcast repeatedly on national television and is used as a facilitation tool in the villages. Environmental education work was carried out with all schools through teacher training, creation of educational materials, youth camps, small projects to be implemented in schools (plantations, gardens, weather monitoring). The Park now serves as a training ground for the national teaching teams in the field of climate change.

To promote sustainable fishing, it is necessary to create partnerships that promote behavior change, even if they are at opposite ends of the market. A partnership of fishermen and buyers brings mutual benefits such as better prices and higher quality products. This incentivises fishermen to respect catch limits and no-take zones.

The purpose of this building block is to provide Blue Ventures’ partner community members with new sources of income, allowing improved access to food and education, while alleviating pressure on fisheries and marine biodiversity. Working with the University of Toliara’s marine science institute (IHSM), local seafood exporter Copefrito and aquaculture company Indian Ocean Trepang (IOT), Blue Ventures is connecting isolated coastal communities in the Velondriake LMMA with lucrative international markets for seaweed and sea cucumbers, enabling families to develop their own aquaculture businesses. Blue Ventures’ aquaculture specialists have trained over 700 people to become farmers of sea cucumbers (Holothuria scabra) and red "cottonii" seaweed (Kappaphycus alvarezii). In partnership with CITE, a Malagasy NGO supporting local socio-economic and entrepreneurial development, they also help to nurture small business development with training programmes that build the technical, financial, managerial and organisational skills needed by fishermen and women to manage their own aquaculture businesses.