ACP-EU Training

ACP-EU Training Courses on
Fisheries and Biodiversity Management:

Concepts and Structure

Overall objective of the training courses

To provide national policymakers with information, methods and tools that will contribute to the formulation and implementation of policies and strategies for the conservation of aquatic biodiversity, its sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits, according to the provisions of the CBD.

Specific purposes of the training courses

• To draw attention to the provisions of the CBD and their implications for the conservation and sustainable use of and the equitable sharing of benefits from aquatic biodiversity.
• To introduce tools for the establishment of biodiversity benchmarks and indicators.
• To provide guidelines for the formulation of targets for the conservation, sustainable use, and the equitable sharing of benefits from aquatic biodiversity.
• To lay the foundations for regional and inter-regional cooperation among stakeholders in the management of aquatic biodiversity, and thereby to harmonise measures for improved conservation and sustainable use and the equitable sharing of benefits from aquatic biodiversity.

Results expected from the training courses

• Participants become conversant with the basic terms used in the CBD and with its provisions for aquatic biodiversity.
• Participants appreciate the provisions of the CBD that concern aquatic biodiversity and how to formulate strategies for implementing these.
• Participants have understood the interdependence of ecosystem management and sustainable use of aquatic biodiversity.
• Participants learn to use tools, such as FishBase, to plan and to undertake further research on the assessment of past and present aquatic biodiversity, and to identify suitable biodiversity indicators for monitoring purposes.
• Participants are aware of the possibilities of modern communication and information technology for biodiversity documentation, assessment, and management.

Structure

The project’s main thrust is institutional capacity building in African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. To this end it has established five regional training nodes (one each in the Pacific and the Caribbean, three in Africa), which are usually staffed by a training coordinator and an assistant.

Training courses have been organised at each training node, with a duration of two weeks each. They were meant for fisheries scientists and senior managers of institutions in ACP countries dealing with the conservation and management of aquatic resources. In total, 50 countries have been invited to participate with two persons each in these training courses.

The regional nodes are provided with travel budgets, computer hardware, Internet access, and other means to carry out further training programs, and to lend support to the fisheries scientists and managers in the countries of their respective region.

The curriculum comprises the following modules:

• biodiversity and its assessment;
• regional concerns in respect to species biodiversity and conservation measures;
• traditional methods and concepts in fisheries management;
• ecosystem modeling;
• library research and scientific writing;
• electronic communication.

As a follow-up measure to the training course a Memorandum of Agreement is signed with one institution each from every participating country to foster the co-operation between this institution and the project. The MoA stipulates that computer hardware and software are provided for the institution to ensure that the new concepts and approaches presented during the training course could be used to start broadening the knowledge base of each country. The institutions commit themselves to contribute to the goals of this co-operation by providing access to the hardware and software to all interested parties in their respective country and to make relevant information available through publications for which the project offers to provide outlets.

Each course was formally assessed by the participants in respect to its relevance and its conceptualisation. The results from these evaluations were used to improve the curriculum to even better suit the needs of the participants.

The following regional courses were held:

• Pacific Training Course;
• Caribbean Training Course;
• Southern Africa Training Course;
• West and Central Africa Training Course;
• Eastern Africa Training Course.

 

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