In September and October of 2024, BIOPAMA supported forty-one grantees in Eastern and Southern Africa Region and three programme team members to undertake a virtual course for conservationists entitled Strategies for Effective Protected Areas Management in Africa, delivered by conservation economics experts Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF). The course was designed to provide participants with a theoretical foundation in economics and finance for conservation with special emphasis on practical tools for financing protected areas and communicating their value to policymakers and stakeholders.
The 41 course participants represented 33 different organizations and 15 countries across the Eastern and Southern Africa Region. This cohort included inspiring conservationists working with or in Protected and Conserved Areas in ESARO to improve the long-term conservation, sustainable use of natural resources and ecosystem services. Participants comprised of Site Managers and Protected Area Managers working with Community Based Organizations, Local and international NGOs, Academia and Government Ministries to implement conservation programmes withing Protected areas. This incredibly engaged cohort was eager to enhance their ability to better integrate natural capital approaches and economic incentives into their conservation efforts.
The course staff and team of expert instructors covered topics ranging from market theory to environmental valuation and participants learned how to integrate natural capital into cost-benefit analyses to assess the best opportunities for a compromise between development and conservation.
In reflection, the course participants rated the overall quality and value of the course to be 9.2 out of 10 and shared an average 98% likelihood that they would recommend this course to a colleague. With a solid foundation in conservation economics, this cohort can now expand their scope of work, identify financing opportunities, better communicate the economic value of the services protected areas provide, and support the continued conservation of the natural environment.
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