CRC Helping Shape IUCN Strategy on Protected Area Capacity Development

CRC’s capacity development experience and expertise have influenced the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) 10-year strategic plan for capacity development in protected areas and the plan’s codifying document, the Strategic Framework for Capacity Development in Protected Areas and other Conservation Territories 2015-2025.

CRC has long been a leader in capacity development of coastal managers and protected area staff through its work with the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association and its Marine Protected Area Professionals certification program as part of the United States Agency for International Development-funded Sustainable Coastal Communities and Ecosystems program (2004-2014).

That experience led the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas to name CRC Coastal Manager Glenn Ricci to its Capacity Development Working Group. The group began working on the strategic plan in 2013, and it was adopted in November 2014 at the World Parks Congress, which convenes once a decade. The recently published framework is a result of the strategy planning process and ongoing refinements. CRC played a leading role in developing the strategy’s program to professionalize protected area management. CRC will continue to participate in the working group and incorporate many of the strategies into its own field programs around the world.

CRC’s Ricci Contributes to IUCN Protected Area Management Book

cover-web-highresCRC Coastal Manager Glenn Ricci has co-authored a chapter on Capacity Development in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) “Protected Area Governance and Management Book,” a free resource for students and practitioners around the globe.

Ricci was asked to contribute to the book because of CRC’s participation in groundbreaking capacity development work through the Western Indian Ocean-Certification of Marine Protected Area Professional (WIO-COMPAS) program. Ricci led that initiative for CRC and was asked to serve on the IUCN Capacity Development Working Group. Ricci also is working on a longer guidance document focused on performance assessment tools for protected area professionals that will be released later this year. The working group and the publications are part of a larger effort to improve the performance of marine protected area staff around the world, and in turn better protect their resources.

The editors state in the foreword of the IUCN book: “Achieving more effective and equitable management requires the appropriate capacity among all institutions and individuals involved. This volume provides an accessible and valuable resource to underpin future capacity development efforts.”