Facilitating training and skill sharing are also important activities that the Pacific Invasives Initiative (PII) carries out to build capacity within the Pacific. See Upcoming Events for a list of planned training courses and workshops related to invasive species management. |
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ACTIVITIES COMPLETED
Trainings
- Phoenix Islands Protected Area Training Workshop, Kiritimati, Kiribati; 16 – 23 April, 2008
- Pilot Training Workshop on Weed Management and Implementation, Palau, 22 – 30 April, 2008
- Rodent Eradications Training Event, New Zealand, 15 – 23 May, 2008
- Aerial Eradication Training, New Zealand, June 30, 2008
- Training Workshop on Weed Management Project Design and Implementation, Pohnpei, 23 February-4 March 2009
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Courses
PII was a major contributor to the design, development and piloting of the Invasive Species Prevention Training Course of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programmein 2003. 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 run by GISP in East and South Africa.
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.
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.
Palau Final report-Pilot training workshop: Weed management project design & implementation
Palau Technical report - Pilot training workshop: Weed management project design & implementation
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”.
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.
- 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.
Pohnpei Training workshop report: Weed management project design & implementation
Pohnpei Training workshop Technical report: Weed management project design & implementation