PROTECTED AREAS LEARNING & RESEARCH COLLABORATIONInitiative of University of Tasmania

Tasmanian Land ConservancyJames Cook, Charles Darwin & Murdoch Universities

Regional partners & supporters

Overview

• Fostering excellence in governance & management of protected areas in Asia Pacific & Oceania regions

• Postgraduate courses available at four Australian universities from 2015

• Objectives are enhancing professionalism & meeting global competency standards

• Courses are for protected area professionals & community-based conservation practitioners

Image: Graeme Worboys, Forest Rangers, Phong Kna Ke Bang NP Vietnam

The need

• Region has many IUCN Category I-VI protected areas

• Includes many marine protected areas, community-managed conservation areas & Australia’s Indigenous Protected Areas

• All face pressures & provide for basic life necessities

• Managers need professional competencies, strong career paths & skilled mentors

Add map of regions& PAs

Map courtesy of the United Nations Environment Programme, World Conservation Monitoring Centre

• The Protected Area Learning and Research Collaboration will:• Provide regional support for protected area practitioners• Build regional collaborations between universities, PA agencies & other

institutions• Support objectives of IUCN • Secure accreditation from bodies such as Global Partnership for

Professionalizing Protected Areas Management (GPPPAM) • Provide accredited training programs throughout Asia Pacific & Oceania

regions

The opportunity & purpose

Images: Arwen Dyer; Matthew Newton

• James Cook University, Murdoch University & University of Tasmania have courses approved for 2015

• Graduate Certificates, Masters & short course (starting January 2015 at University of Tasmania) are available

• Courses likely to extend to Charles Darwin University, Wildlife Institute of India & University of South Pacific in 2015/16

• All courses address competencies from draft GPPPAM framework

2015 courses

http://www-public.jcu.edu.au/courses/course_info/?userText=54504-MAP-PAM#.VD2D5PmSySphttp://www.utas.edu.au/courses/study-areas/environment http://www.murdoch.edu.au/Courses/Environmental-Managementhttp://www.cdu.edu.au/environment

JCU:UTAS:Murdoch:CDU:

How can you participate• Enrol in a course yourself or

recommend someone for a scholarship

• Encourage your government agencies, businesses, philanthropic sources & others to enrol people or provide scholarship funds

• Come and visit us at Booth 66 next to the IUCN bookstore/ cafe

• Find out more: www.palrc.org

• Introduce us to other institutions who might join our collaboration

• Introduce us to new partners whether aid agency, government, park agency, business, philanthropy or other

Innovative and effective• Our Collaboration joins like minds within a defined

region of the world to share their strengths & tackle a clear need for enhanced capacity

Evidence of implementation and impact• “Education is the most powerful weapon which you

can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela

Applied elsewhere or more broadly• The collaboration is worth aligning with,

complementing or building elsewhere as it brings people & institutions together for a common end

An inspiring solution?

Image: Andrew Cambpell, Kakadu National Park

Components that lead to success• A clear need• A unity of purpose

Enabling factors• Visionary investors• Broadly-based and competent committee members (we have ~30 people

on 3 committees from across Asia, Pacific & Oceania regions)

What makes it work?

Image: Graeme Worboys, Short- tailed shearwater