Subnational | PANORAMA

Capacity development activities such as training and materials and equipment provision to facilitate collection of baseline data through monitoring and surveillance.

The following activities enabled delivery of the outputs defined in Building Block 1. Prior to being deployed into the field to engage in monitoring, surveillance and data collection, the ranger team needed to be equipped and trained as demonstrated by the activities below.

Activity Implemented 1.3 - Procurement of equipment and supporting hardware and software for use in monitoring of targeted areas within PSEPA

Activity Implemented 1.4 - Conduct training of surveillance personnel in the use of monitoring equipment

Activity Implemented 1.3 - Procurement of equipment and supporting hardware and software for use in monitoring of targeted areas within PSEPA

Activity Implemented 1.4 - Conduct training of surveillance personnel in the use of monitoring equipment

Implementation of this project provided a few important lessons:

The benefits of this project to the Saint Lucia National Trust would have been more apparent to internal and external stakeholders if a well-defined communication programme had been developed and built into the project design. While there was mention of communication and knowledge materials, the processes for generating them were not well defined, given the fact that the project implementation process focused on addressing the human resource needs and functions. Well- designed communications actions add value to projects and provide avenues and tools for documentation, celebration and for continuous growth and development.
The COVID context, especially the prohibitions on travel and face to face contact, limited training opportunities and activities. Most of these activities, and they were conducted towards the end of the project and this did not allow sufficient time for practice of desired skills. Those skill sets that were softer and easier to internalize and reproduce were successfully transferred, but some that require practice are still ongoing.

Review phase

Local

Subnational

Building Capacity for addressing programming gaps through personnel recruitment

PSEPA Rangers at Turtle Monitorimg Training

@Augustine Dominique

PSEPA Rangers on Sandy Beach

@Saint Lucia National Trust

PSEPA Head Ranger on Assignment

@Saint Lucia National Trust

Bird Survey on Maria Major, Saint Lucia

@Saint Lucia National Trust

Recruiting personnel with the desired skills, attributes and a willingness to undergo desierd training. This included a Project Manager for the SLNT PSEPA Programme to provide leadership and manage implementation of project activities; and a team of rangers to conduct the monitoring and surveillance activities. These resources supported delivery of the following outputs:

Output 1 - Increased surveillance of targeted areas within the PSEPA to address illegal activities and species conservation

Activity Implemented 1.1 - PSEPA Ranger recruitment

Activity Implemented 1.2 - Surveillance of key PSEPA resources

Activity Implemented 1.5 - Recruitment of Conservation Officer

Output 2 - Improved Species monitoring programmes

Activity Implemented 2.1 – Offshore islands monitoring

Activity Implemented 2.2 – Wildlife survey

Activity Implemented 2.3 – Equipment purchase turtle monitoring

Activity Implemented 2.4 – Turtle monitoring training

Activity Implemented 2.5 – Turtle monitoring

The rationale for this building block is such that the activities and outputs presented above assisted with the generation of data required to inform future programming and lay the foundation for an established conservation programme at the SLNT southern office responsible for the PSEPA.

Activity Implemented 1.3 - Procurement of equipment and supporting hardware and software for use in monitoring of targeted areas within PSEPA

Activity Implemented 1.4 - Conduct training of surveillance personnel in the use of monitoring equipment

Implementation of this project provided a few important lessons:

The benefits of this project to the Saint Lucia National Trust would have been more apparent to internal and external stakeholders if a well-defined communication programme had been developed and built into the project design. While there was mention of communication and knowledge materials, the processes for generating them were not well defined, given the fact that the project implementation process focused on addressing the human resource needs and functions. Well-designed communications actions add value to projects and provide avenues and tools for documentation, celebration and for continuous growth and development.
The COVID context, especially the prohibitions on travel and face to face contact, limited training opportunities and activities. Most of these activities were conducted towards the end of the project and this did not allow sufficient time for practice of desired skills. Those skill sets that were softer and easier to internalize and reproduce were successfully transferred, but some that require practice are still ongoing.

PSEPA Flora and Fauna Survey Methodology

Data Sets - December 2021 to January 2022

Key partnerships to share expertise and resources

SECORE staff providing guidance in the lab

Reef Patrol

Collecting and sharing data among partners

Paul Selvaggio

Coral Rearing In-Situ Basin (CRIB) provided by partner SECORE Int.

Lorenzo Mittiga

In June 2019, RRFB started the first larval propagation project in Bonaire in collaboration with SECORE International. The goal of the partnership is to establish a technical cooperation in which RRFB provides local knowledge, manpower, field logistics, and a facility, and shares all field trial results, monitoring data, and qualitative feedback on methodologies and technologies provided by SECORE Int. In return, SECORE Int. provides techniques, methodologies, expertise and training sessions on larval propagation. This partnership's knowledge was crucial for successfully implementing larval propagation techniques in Bonaire. By consistently sharing results and lessons learned, the technique was improved, leading to greater success and scalability for future project replication.

The existence of a well developed and effective global network of scientists and practitioners willing to constructively share knowledge.
A formalized partnership with well-defined roles and responsibilities.
The opportunity for and committment to scheduling regular virtual and in-person training sessions.
Having a shared vision and goals among partners.

Importance of scheduling regular meetings with partners before and after each major step of technique implementation to formalize results, feedback and lessons learnt.

SECORE International Webpage

Coral Restoration Consortium Webpage

Partnerships between key local actors and multi-sectorial, transboundary collaborations

The Kavango - Zambezi Trans-frontier Conservation Area’s Bird Conservation Strategic Plan Task Team coming up with a strategic plan for bird conservation across KAZA TFCA

BirdWatch Zambia

Mr Zende_The Community Liaison Officer for Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority (Khakhi attire) & Miss Moyo_ Community Officer for the Environmental Management Agency tackling issues of HWC with Shabula Vulture Support Group

BirdLife Zimbabwe

Attendants at Satau village reading some of the communication materials relaying anti-wildlife poisoing message

BirdLife Botswana

The achieved results relied heavily on the collaboration and cooperation partnerships among various stakeholders, including government agencies, conservation organizations, scientists, and local communities. Collaboration with the Ministries/Government departments was key in sensitizing the communities on issues around human-wildlife conflict and suggested environmentally friendly ways to mitigate the conflict. The scientists were there to collect information related to wildlife poisoning and give feedback to the government ministries. The communities were the key stakeholder since they are the sole custodians of the environment.

The implementers connected with local communities was that we were already working with communities on some other projects, so this enabled our relations to be strengthened. By involving communities in decision-making, they were able to identify some stakeholders with whom we collaborated to share skills, knowledge, and experiences resulting in the project's success. The transboundary collaboration enabled the implementers to focus on tackling vulture poisoning across three countries separately but fighting for the same cause.

Partnering with other organizations trying to achieve the same goal makes the implementation of project results much easier and quicker without a scenario of duplicating the work on the ground. Ideas and possible solutions to a problem can be freely shared resulting in problems being addressed holistically.

Documentation and dissemination of results

KAZA TFCA Area’s Bird Conservation Strategic Plan Task Team meeting

Collaborating with local key stakeholders in human-wildlife conflict management…

Good Relations with the Mandated Management Institution of the MPA

Open Discussions Between the MPA Warden and WWF-Kenya Staff

WWF-Kenya

Initial Planning Meeting Between Partners

WWF-Kenya

Final MPA Staff Training and Mentorship Planning Session

WWF-Kenya

The management of the Kisite Mpunguti MPA is mandated to the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute. It was therefore critical to have buy-in from the managers of these institutions in the implementation of project activities including WIO-COMPAS. This ensured the endorsement of the WIO-COMPAS programme and its subsequent recognition for career development.

For this reason, the two institutions were included in the process from inception to completion. This ensured the MPA staff that this venture would add value, at individual levels, to their careers, and not just to the MPA management. This was crucial, as the WIO-COMPAS assessment preparation process is quite daunting, and a motivating factor is necessary to ensure their participation.

Long-standing history with the management institutions: WWF-Kenya has long-standing good relations with the two institutions, having worked closely together on multiple projects over decades. Additionally, a Memorandum of Understanding is in place with the institutions because of this, making interactions seamless and cooperative. However, where such a history is not in place, good relations can still be fostered by establishing goodwill and through open and transparent collaboration.

Identify a point-person: Though good relations may exist at higher management levels, it is necessary to have a point person at the MPA level to assist in overall planning and staff mobilization. It is an added bonus if that person has the expertise needed to assist in either the training phase, mentorship phase, or both. Where necessary, multiple point persons may be selected. For the case of the Kisite Mpunguti MPA, two staff were selected, including the warden from KWS and the Senior Researcher from WRTI, where both had expertise on the WIO-COMPAS programme.

Criteria for point-person selection: A criteria for the selection of the point person(s) is necessary to ensure smooth implementation. These include:

Availablility and accessibility throughout the planning, training, mentorship phases of this capacity building
Shown interest in the WIO-COMPAS programme
Willingness to assist throughout the process.

Other criteria may be established at this point based on the local context.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Caribbean

Improved capacity for Conservation Action and Sustainable Management: Data collection to inform biodiversity conservation, wildlife protection and general area surveillance programmes within the PSEPA.

Augustine

Dominique

Building Capacity for addressing programming gaps through personnel recruitment

Capacity development activities such as training and materials and equipment provision to facilitate collection of baseline data through monitoring and surveillance.

Caribbean

Improved capacity for Conservation Action and Sustainable Management: Data collection to inform biodiversity conservation, wildlife protection and general area surveillance programmes within the PSEPA.

Augustine

Dominique

Building Capacity for addressing programming gaps through personnel recruitment

Capacity development activities such as training and materials and equipment provision to facilitate collection of baseline data through monitoring and surveillance.

Prior Assessments to Identify Capacity Gaps

SAPA Assessment - Public Participation with Local Community

WWF-Kenya

SAPA Assessment - Public Participation with Local Institutions

WWF-Kenya

While the WIO-COMPAS programme aims at improving the individual capacity of MPA professionals, it also has a compounding effect on the management effectiveness of an MPA. Therefore, a prior assessment on the different aspects of MPA management effectiveness is necessary for monitoring, evaluation, learning and adaptive management purposes.

It is thus recommended that the MPA implementing this process commences with at least one of the following assessments

Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool (IMET) or Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT)
Social Assessment for Protected Areas (SAPA)

Combined, these highlight gaps in the different aspects of an MPA, including management, governance, ecological health, and social wellbeing. These gaps can be used to tailor the WIO-COMPAS training programme towards addressing the gaps identified.

Institutional Recognition and Support: The institution managing the MPA must see the necessity of assessing the management status of MPAs. This will ensure appropriate funding allocation in the long term to facilitate the continual capacity growth of the MPA.

Capacity to Conduct the Assessments: Internal capacity is desired to reduce costs. However, external expertise may be sourced where necessary where capacity is lacking. This may include working with partner institutions on a pro bono basis or using a consultant to conduct the entire assessment.

Prior planning: It is necessary to consider the entire process beforehand. This includes identifying the expertise/personnel needed, the duration for the exercise, and any costs associated with it. Additionally, it is important to allocate specific tasks to the individual assessment team members to ensure the objectives of the exercise are fully met in good time.

Public participation: Engaging the MPA staff alone in the assessments leads to positively skewed results. Consequently, it is necessary to acquire views from other stakeholders as well to get a more holistic picture of the management gaps that the MPA is facing. It will therefore be necessary to map out stakeholders, including their influence and interests in the MPA, before the assessments.