Darwin Training Programmes for Integrated Protected Area Management 

Programme Background
There is a substantial record of collaboration between Living Earth Ghana (LEG). Living Earth UK and the Wildlife Division (WD) of the Forestry Commission of Ghana. Throughout the EU-funded ‘Protected Areas Development Programme’ (PADP) (1996-2000), Living Earth Foundation (UK) provided regular technical assistance and worked with Wildlife Division to provide conservation education and community liaison expertise.  An aspect of this work included the development and promotion of the Community Resource Management Area ( CREMA) concept at the community level and development of the Ankasa Exploration Base. The need for ‘Darwin Training Programmes’ has been identified as a result of these collaborations and both the WD and LEG have been instrumental in developing project details.

Programme Objectives
This programme has been developed to build the capacity of Ghana’s Wildlife Division (WD) to deliver effective training programmes to improve community liaison and biodiversity protection through promoting the establishment of CREMA's around Ghana’s protected areas. This in turn will contribute to assisting Ghana meet its obligations under the Convention of Biodiversity (CBD).

The concept of CREMA is based on the knowledge that if communities are given the opportunity to manage their natural resources they will have the incentive to manage them sustainably and conserve them. Research conducted during PADP I confirmed that effectively implemented CREMA’s will result in improved environmental security and land-use practices by farmers as well as improved income for farmers, which results in greater food security and poverty alleviation.

Programme Activities and Outputs
WD’s Collaborative Resource Management Unit (CRMU) will carry out needs analyses and develop training modules with Living Earth staff.  The Unit will monitor the effectiveness of the training among WD staff and local communities.

The principal project output is the development and piloting of a structured and progressive training programme delivered over three training weeks to WD field staff and community members to build their capacity.

Key WD field staff from four selected protected areas will complete the programme during the project period.  Subsequently the training will be rolled out to other WD staff; facilitated by the production of a course handbook.

The project envisages a cascading of training to communities by WD staff and effective and appropriate communication forms the core of the second module.  In total 80 WD staff and 320 community members will receive training.

Post-training, a variety of methods will be utilized to verify learning outcomes.  These will include visits to trainees, one-to-one conversations, knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) surveys and user questionnaires.

Living Earth Ghana is responsible for local project management and provision of technical assistance (direct training and training of trainers) as well as facilitating the technical assistance provided by Living Earth UK. The Wildlife Division (WD) is the institution responsible for the legal framework of Community Resource Management Areas (CREMA); it will provide training personnel and field staff; and will be responsible for ensuring sustainability of project outputs.  The WD is the catalyst for the programme as it is the agency through which devolution of management authority must occur.

Programme Funding
The Darwin Training Programmes for Integrated Protected Area Management is funded for 30 months from October 2005, through the UK Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Darwin Initiative.

For more information on this project contact;

Afia Asamoa - Ghana Programme Co-ordinator, Living Earth Ghana.

Javier Alvarez - Senior Project Manager - Living Earth UK