Seychelles hosts regional workshop on marine protected areas |14 June 2016
Delegates from the western Indian Ocean region, including Seychelles, are meeting in a workshop on the sustainable management of marine protected areas.
The 4th Regional WIOMSA (Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association) Marine Protected Area training course is being hosted by the Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA) in collaboration with WIOMSA.
The two-week workshop was officially opened yesterday morning at the Seychelles Fishing Authority’s (SFA) training room by the chief executive of SNPA Flavien Joubert, in the presence of the chairman of the board of SNPA Selby Remie.
The training has brought together over 20 officers from the western Indian Ocean countries and local delegates from the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), Island Conservation Society (ICS) and SNPA.
Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established throughout the world for a variety of purposes such as conservation, tourism and education. The aim of WIOMSA is to advance regional co-operation in all aspects of coastal and marine sciences and management and to support sustainable development in the western Indian Ocean region, while promoting interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches.
Mr Joubert said that this training will enable the delegates to have a better understanding about marine protected area.
“Less than eight months after the SNPA made a request to WIOMSA, this training is now a reality and we have a cohort of practitioners from the entire region lined up for this tailor-made training aimed at updating skills and testing capacity,” he said.
He added that WIOMSA will deliver their skills and knowledge to our local participants and those from the western Indian Ocean countries.
“I am particular pleased to see WIOMSA utilising those opportunities to further develop and establish itself as a capable regional partner that can provide different levels of intervention in the field of science and well as capacity development. This training is a first step towards certification under the WIO-Compas programme. If all goes well, the programme should give us in the region, more MPA practitioners and technicians with the right skills for the job, and whose skills are recognised under an internationally accepted scheme,” he pointed out.
The course will be delivered in a variety of practical formats that include lectures from Lawrence Sisitka from South Africa.
Delegates will take part in role plays, group exercises and discussions around case studies.
A field trip will be arranged this coming Friday.
Delegates will also be required to complete an individual in-course assignment which will be assessed by the course facilitators.