CATIE´s 32th Annual International Protected Areas Course: Effective management within the context of landscapes and global change”

Objectives

The International Protected Areas Course managed by the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) has 32 years of existence in Latin America. It has been offering to a wide range of actors, including World Heritage Sites, Biosphere Reserves and protected areas, solid theoretical and methodological orientation in issues related to protected area and landscape management in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This project aimed at supporting the organization (venue and scholarships) of an intensive training course designed to increase participant’s understanding of key conservation and development issues and to develop their skills in the application of management and planning techniques.

Results

After a rigorous selection process, 22 participants from 8 countries (Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela) were selected, 50% of them being women. The funding provided by the World Heritage Fund supported 7 participants from World Heritage sites: 2 from Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve (Honduras), 2 from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (Costa Rica), 1 from Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park (Panama/Costa Rica), 1 from the Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino (Mexico) and 1 from Sian Ka'an (Mexico).

The course took place from 6 to 30 June 2011 at CATIE (Turrialba, Costa Rica). It included lectures and discussions, field visits to different protected areas, field practices and individual participant presentations. The course was structured in 7 modules which integrated several themes such as the role of protected areas in local, regional and national development; methods and experiences of social participation in the adaptive management of protected areas; integrated management of landscapes, etc. Major conservation issues in protected areas were discussed to better understand the conceptual framework for global biodiversity conservation and natural resource management in a context of global change, as well as the challenges with regard to climate change and its implications on the management of protected areas among others.

In addition, the course program included a two-day module focusing on the integrated management of protected areas within the landscape context comparing World Heritage Sites, Biosphere Reserves as well as other conservation strategies.

Written and oral evaluations for each module were conducted throughout the course to ensure a high level of feedback from participants and do any necessary readjustments. The overall grade given to the course by the participants was 98.4%.

Collaborating organizations such as the Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) contributed to the success of this activity.

This request was financed thanks to
a contribution from the Government of Italy.