The Bureau,
noted the increasing demand for support for organizing training courses for natural and cultural heritage specialists.
recommended that in the future the annual training budget should be divided equally for training natural and cultural heritage specialists.
considered 8 requests for supporting the training of natural heritage specialists and worked on the assumption that the training budget for 1995 will be the same as that of 1994 and gave priority to supporting training activities in Africa and in less developed countries.
Requests approved by the Bureau
1. 17th International Training Course for Protected Area Managers of Latin America, CATIE, Costa Rica: US$30,000
2. Regional Training Course for Protected Area Managers of Arab States, Egypt: US$30,000
3. Support to participants from Francophone Africa in the Training Course on Protected Areas, organized by ENGREF, France, in Côte d'Ivoire: US$19,000
4. Regional Training Course for Protected Area Managers of West Africa, organized by School of Wildlife Specialists, Garoua, Cameroon (an additional US$5,000 for supporting the publication of the proceedings of the training seminar should be sought from other sources): US$20,000
5. Fellowships to African World Heritage sites and Protected Area Managers at Regional Training Institutions:
School of Wildlife Specialists, Garoua, Cameroon: US$22,000
Mweka College of African Wildlife Management, Arusha, Tanzania: US$20,000
The Bureau also approved a sum of US$30,000 for preparing a strategy for the training of managers of natural World Heritage sites. In this connection a workshop is to be organized in cooperation with the United States National Park Service in September 1995.
The Bureau further urged the Secretariat to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the training supported by the World Heritage Fund in the past and to use the outcome of such an assessment in the elaboration of a strategy for the future.
Requests not approved by the Bureau
Due to budgetary constraints, the Bureau did not approved the sum of US$20,000 requested by the organizers of a training seminar on protected area management in Europe. The Bureau urged that the organizers raise the funds needed through alternative source in Europe.