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Facilitating training and skill sharing are important activities that the Pacific Invasives Initiative (PII) carries out to build capacity within the Pacific.
PII’s SKILL SHARING PROGRAMME
PII has a Skill Sharing Programme that is available for PII’s Pacific partners and agencies it collaborates with. The Programme enables the individual to travel to New Zealand (or another location) to experience and learn from world-renowned organisations or specialists in the field of invasive species management . Each programme will be tailored to meet the needs of the individual or agency that has current working projects in the Pacific, and would like to further develop their capacity in invasive species management. If you are interested and would like to know more, please contact us.
PII’s TRAINING COURSE
PII currently has three Training Courses: Island Biosecurity, Invasive Plant Project Management and How to Eradicate Rodents and Cats from Islands. These courses are available on request and are provided to Pacific agencies who work in collaboration with PII. Course's are held either in New Zealand or the agency’s country, and is adapted to the agency’s needs in their current working project(s). The main structure of courses are based heavily on practical and applied principles, with high interaction between the facilitators and the participants. For more information regarding one of PII’s Training Course please contact us.See Upcoming Events for a list of planned training courses and workshops related to invasive species management.
ACTIVITIES COMPLETED
Trainings
- Pacific Biological Control Strategy Workshop Auckland New Zealand
- Aerial Eradication Training, New Zealand
- Rodent Eradications Training Event, New Zealand
- Pilot Training Workshop on Weed Management and Implementation, Palau
- Phoenix Islands Protected Area Training Workshop, Kiritimati, Kiribati
The Pacific Invasives Initiative (PII) successfully completed the first “How to Eradicate Rodents and Cats from Islands Training Course” 11-15 April 2011, Nadi Fiji.
The training course provided participants with the knowledge and skills to carry out rodent and cat eradication projects. The training is based on the Resource Kit, which is a practical guide to assist project managers in developing and implementing rodent and cat eradication projects on islands. The Kit provides best practice processes, methods and lessons learned as, well as supporting tools (Guidelines, templates, references etc).
For more information about this training please read the training report or view photo album
Pacific Invasives Initiative's Island Biosecurity Training Course for National Trust of the Fiji Islands (NTF) was held in Suva, Fiji, in 28 June - 01 July 2010. NTF is undertaking conservation projects for the Fijian crested iguana (Brachylophus vitiensis) on Yadua Taba and Monuriki islands, and wants to improve biosecurity for these islands. The aims of the training were 1) to enhance an understanding of island biosecurity, its purpose and how to maintain effective biosecurity programmes; 2) to enhance the knowledge and skills necessary to undertake basic biosecurity prevention, surveillance and incursion response; and 3) to collate information required for development of biosecurity plan for Yadua Taba. This 4-day training course was attended by NTF staff, who also invited participants from the land-owning community of Yanuya Island, the Provincial Councils of Nadroga and Bua, Fiji Quarantine Service, and Birdlife International.
The training covered basic concepts and processes of the three components of biosecurity; prevention, surveillance, and incursion response. The importance and function of these components were reinforced with several activities, one of which was a fieldtrip to Mabualau Island, to learn the continued biosecurity measures conducted by the land-owners after a successful rat eradication (by Birdlife International and land-owners). The participatory approach of this training encouraged interaction, personal opinions and experiences to be shared within the group, and all discussions were made in both English and Fijian languages. Overall, participants demonstrated an increased level of understanding on the basic concepts of invasive species and island biosecurity. The participants agreed that greater grasp of invasive species issues and more communication between different parties were needed to enhance the biosecurity of Yadua Taba and Monuriki islands. There were also agreements on the need for biosecurity inspections on local and international researchers and other visitors to the islands.
For more information about this training please read the training report or view photo album
Pacific Invasives Initiative’s Island Biosecurity Training Course for the Aleipata Island project was held in Apia, Samoa. The purposes of the training were: 1) to develop general understanding of invasive species and biosecurity on Nu’utele and Nu’ulua islands by the participants; 2) to develop knowledge and skills necessary to undertake basic surveillance and incursion responses; 3) to collect local knowledge for contribution to the island biosecurity plan, and 4) to develop an initial visitors’ biosecurity checklist to the islands.
This 4-day training course was attended by up to 22 participants from Samoa’s Ministry for Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE), the Aleipata Marine Protected Area (MPA) committee leaders, and the Samoan Ports Authority (SPA).
The training covered the three steps of biosecurity, and introduced basic concepts to the participants. These were reinforced with several practical exercises, which included a fieldtrip to Satitoa wharf to examine biosecurity issues at the departure site. The participatory approach of this training was to encourage personal opinions and to share experiences and discussion by the group. All participants expressed an increased level of understanding on invasive species, its current issues, and importance of biosecurity to the islands. The participants agreed on the importance of public awareness for effective island biosecurity. This training also identified several issues or recommendations which will be followed up in the next few months by agencies who have participated.
For more information about this training please read the training report or view photo album
- Invasive plant project management traing American Samoa Community College Mapusaga, Tutuila Island, American Samoa 25 January - 4 February, 2010
As a result of successful workshops in Palau and Pohnpei, PII was asked to deliver a training workshop for the Forestry Programme of the Community and Natural Resources Division of the American Samoa Community College.The design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of priority invasive plant management projects in American Samoa were covered at a workshop at the American Samoa Community College on Tutuila from 25 January to 4 February, 2010. Participants worked in teams to plan their priority projects. The workshop was based on active learning principles and gave attendees the skills necessary to collect and manage data for project planning, implementation and accountability for successful project management. An efficient and effective data collection and management system that is easy to use and maintain and adaptable to other invasive species projects across the Pacific was further developed.
This was the most successful workshop yet as participants had prepared well for the content areas. Participant evaluations of the workshop gave scores of 100% to questions about the workshop meeting their expectations and whether the methods used in the workshop would help them in their work. Comments offered included “The workshop presented way more than I expected. It is the best weed training I have taken over the last 12 years.” and “The workshop offered a practical approach to weed management.
For more informaton please read training report.
- Pacific Biological Control Strategy Workshop 16-18 November 2009 Auckland New Zealand. Learn More
- Training Workshop on Weed Management Project Design and Implementation, Pohnpei, 23 February-4 March 2009
The design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of invasive plant projects in Micronesian jurisdictions were covered as part of this training workshop. Participants worked on their own priority projects and the training focused on upskilling them in modern methods of weed project management including collecting and managing data for project planning, implementation and accountability.
PII assisted with the organisation of the workshop, coordinated technical specialist input to the training and facilitated the workshop. The workshop was sponsored by the Regional Invasive Species Council (RISC) of Micronesia and the Invasive Species Taskforce of each jurisdiction selected participants. It was hosted by the Pohnpei Invasive Species Taskforce and funded by the German Government’s Life Web Initiative through the Micronesian Conservation Trust and The Nature Conservancy. The Conservation Society of Pohnpei provided logistical support.
13 practitioners from 10 Government and Non-government agencies from across Micronesia completed the training. Another 14 managers and practitioners participated in sections of the workshop. A reporting session on the final day gave attendees the opportunity to present to some stakeholders (members of the Pohnpei Invasive Species Taskforce and supervisory personnel for Pohnpei projects) the main changes they will make to their projects as a result of the workshop.
Evaluation of the workshop gave a score of 94% for meeting expectations and for the usefulness of the workshop in improving participants’ knowledge and ability to carry out their work. Several participants expressed interest in follow-up activities to build on the successful learning at the workshop. This would best be done with visits to individual teams in their home territory so that targeted and applied training can be achieved.
For more information please read the training report and technical report.
To take advantage of planned eradications in NZ, PII and the (UK) Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) organised a 10-day event for people from the Pacific and Atlantic islands to cover issues involved with aerial eradication work. The programme was designed to; develop skills, see/practice some island biosecurity measures, get an understanding of the potential to exclude pests from areas on the mainland and improve basic ecological knowledge. It also provided opportunities to see how world class systems work and to network with some NZ specialists in areas like seabirds, rats, and biosecurity.
This event was organized to equip Pacific practitioners (BirdLife Pacific partners from Fiji, Palau, French Polynesia and New Caledonia; Kiritimati Wildlife Conservation Unit, Kiribati) with the knowledge and skills required to undertake rodent eradications. It included a meeting with NZDOC’s Island Eradication Advisory Group, a 1-day planning workshop, and a series of visits to island eradication sites. PII assisted in the planning as well as facilitating the 1-day planning session.
The event allowed project managers to present their project to the IEAG for review. This was invaluable in terms of clarifying and resolving many issues that the managers had as well as building their confidence.
The 1-day planning session allowed participants from the Pacific to share their experiences with each other as well as with experts from other countries. Feedback received after the training was very positive and included comments like “I understand the eradication involves a particular process and it is important to follow it in order to succeed”, “Now I have a better idea of the process, the steps and the progression and the planning documents that are products” and “When an island is successfully eradicated, tere is still a lot of work involved in monitoring, to make sure it remains pest-free. This has to be included in project proposals”.
PII coordinated and led a workshop on planning priority weed eradication projects; designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating to ensure success of the projects. It was attended by Government staff from the Republic of Palau and the State of Yap (Federated States of Micronesia). Reports covering the detail of the workshop, evaluation and recommendations are available on request.
An evaluation by the participants carried out immediately after concluded that the workshop had been extremely useful. Statements such as “We apply what we learned starting tomorrow to better evaluate our progress” and “Thanks for coming to Palau and sharing very important information that will help us in eradication processes” show the importance of providing training opportunities to people directly involved in invasive species management projects.
For more information please read training report and technical report.
A workshop covering biosecurity and invasive species management was held for Government of Kiribati staff on the Phoenix and Line Islands. PII assisted in the development and facilitation of the workshop and PII and PILN jointly covered the costs of the Deputy Director of MELAD/ECU to attend. The workshop covered biodiversity values, threats and opportunities, pest eradication methods, biosecurity needs of the Phoenix Islands and Kiritimati Island and biota monitoring methods.
In the workshop evaluation, all participants agreed in that the skills and knowledge gained from the workshop would be useful in their future work. Statements such as “Stricter control/inspection at main ports is needed to reduce biosecurity risks” and “…come again every year to teach us how to protect our island” show the value of a comprehensive approach to capacity building.
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