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TRAINING AND SKILL-SHARING

Facilitating training and skill sharing is an important activity as part of the Pacific Invasives Initiative (PII) goal to develop the capacity of Pacific communities to manage invasive species. The PII Coordinating Team made a major contribution to the design, development and piloting of the Invasive Species Prevention Training Course of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). The PII Coordinating Team also designed and developed an Introductory Training Course in Invasive Alien Species Management for the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP). The course was subsequently country-customised and run by GISP in East and South Africa.

Training opportunities have also been created as part of PII Demonstration Projects. For example, Viwa Island residents have been trained in amphibian (Fijian ground frog and cane toad) monitoring procedures as part of the preparation for the Viwa Island Demonstration Project. An academic course run by the University of South Pacific (Suva) includes Viwa as a case study for students to gain experience in the collection and identification of invertebrates.

Demonstration Projects lend themselves to skill-sharing - the transfer of skills one to one (or one to a few) on site. In many cases skill-sharing between a few carefully selected trainers and trainees is the most effective way to transfer knowledge, experience and skills, and to develop necessary expertise at the local level. The PII, with support from it's partners, has already facilitated skill-sharing exchanges involving several Demonstration Projects. For example the Mont Panié mammal control Demonstration Project; a number of local people have been trained in rat trapping and monitoring procedures, as well as in using trained dogs to hunt feral pigs. The number of such exchanges is expected to increase as these projects evolve and further Demonstration Projects are initiated.

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Last Updated 27 May 2008