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  • BIOPAMA concludes IMET training workshop for academics, students in Nigerian universities

    BIOPAMA concludes IMET training workshop for academics, students in Nigerian universities

     

    By Kelvin Obambon

    The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Programme in partnership with the African Network of Coaches for the Effective Management of Protected Areas (RACEGAP), has concluded a 5-day training workshop on the introduction and use of the Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool (IMET) in selected universities in Nigeria, West Africa.

    BIOPAMA Programme is a 60 million euro initiative of the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States to improve the long-term conservation and sustainable use of natural resources through better use and monitoring of information and capacity development on management and governance.

    The programme is implemented through the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (EC-JRC). It focuses on the 79 ACP countries, which cover a huge diversity of ecological, social and cultural systems.

    IMET was developed by the Joint Research Center of the European Union in the context of the BIOPAMA programme to contribute towards improving protected area management effectiveness and meeting conservation targets. The tool concerns the planning, monitoring and evaluation of protected areas and it directly support managers on the field and at national agencies level.

    READ ALSO: BIOPAMA commences training workshop on introduction of IMET, IUCN Green List in UNICAL, UNICROSS

    The training in Nigeria which took place from the 16th to 20th September, 2024 at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), drew 25 academics and students from both the host institution and the University of Cross River (UNICROSS), who were rigorously tutored on IMET and IUCN Green List by conservation experts from RACEGAP.

    According to the facilitator of the workshop, Sonigitu Ekpe, the objective of the training was to introduce IMET into the universities curriculum and enhance the knowledge of academics on the tool which is novel in Nigeria.

    “We have four professors from the University of Calabar and the University of Cross River in this training. We have 21 undergraduate and graduate students taking part in this training. They will learn the offline tools. IMET is a tool use to assess the management effectiveness of protected areas. Protected areas are like National Parks, conserved areas and reserved areas. We have various categories,” he said.

    Similarly, Ali Coulibaly, IUCN project officer from Dakar, Senegal, explained that the workshop was organized in order to have a set of experts on IMET, adding that it was part of the sustainability plan of the BIOPAMA Programme.

    “It is for us to start training students to enable them to work as protected areas managers; this is why we introduce this tool to them and advocate also for it to be included in the curriculum of universities,” Coulibaly said.

    Sharing their experiences, some of the participants said the workshop was an eye opener that exposed them to latest tools in assessing and evaluating biodiversity conservation.

    Dr Nelson Inyang from the department of geography and environmental science, University of Calabar, said “I have used several tools, but the IMET is one of a kind. It is fully loaded – from the management to the intervention, to the planning and up to the output. The tool is so systematic that you cannot skip an item. It will definitely reflect.

    “I will like to thank BIOPAMA and the IUCN for developing this tool to enable us tackle the challenges in our protected areas and to also have a perfect result.”

    Another participant, Bridget Kekong, a post graduate student in the department of fisheries and aquatic science, UNICROSS, remarked that the training was exciting, informative and educative.

    “Personally I have not had this kind of experience before. I can say that I have learned a lot. I can now use the IMET. I can go to the National Park, take data and know what to do with the data, using the tool. I will like to appeal that this kind of training should be held frequently so that others can learn too,” she said.

    The workshop featured a field trip to the Cross River National Park, Akamkpa, where the Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool was used to assess and evaluate some protected areas in the Park; certificates were also presented to participants at the end of the training.

  • BIOPAMA commences training workshop on introduction of IMET, IUCN Green List in UNICAL, UNICROSS

    BIOPAMA commences training workshop on introduction of IMET, IUCN Green List in UNICAL, UNICROSS

     

    By Kelvin Obambon

    The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Programme has begun a weeklong training workshop on the introduction of the Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool (IMET) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Green List to the University of Calabar (UNICAL) and the University of Cross River (UNICROSS), respectively.

    The workshop which commenced on Monday 16 September, 2024 at the E-learning Center of the Department of Modern Languages and Translation Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Calabar, is part of a broader effort to introduce IMET and IUCN Green List into the curriculum of universities across the African continent, and the retaining of coaches in protected areas management effectiveness.

    Declaring the workshop open, the Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Peter Okafor, said that it was exciting to host the BIOPAMA workshop because the university management is keen to train and retrain staff and students of the institution.

    “Knowledge is very important. What you know will take you to the future. What you don’t know keeps you in the past. The developed world are 20 or 30 years ahead of us because of the knowledge they have acquired. If we can acquire those knowledge, it will take us also to the future. We are where we are today because of the amount of knowledge at our disposal. We are suffering because we lack basic information that will help us.

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    “We are glad that this workshop will provide opportunity for our staff, our students – both undergraduates and postgraduates to also acquire knowledge,” he said.

    While charging participants from the university community to make good use of the rare opportunity to learn as much as they can, the Acting Vice Chancellor noted that with people from other countries taking part in the workshop, UNICAL would have some kind of visibility.

    “I happen to be the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research, Linkages and Collaboration. My job is to expose the University to the outside world, and do everything possible to link us internationally, locally, and then also to cooperate with as many bodies as possible that would help us to achieve our principal goal of research, teaching and community service,” Prof. Okafor said, as he welcomed the participants.

    Speaking during a brief interview session, a Nigerian-based senior coach and facilitator of the workshop, Sonigitu Ekpe, said “the objective of the training is to be able to introduce IMET into the universities curriculum. We have four professors from the University of Calabar and the University of Cross River State in this training.

    “We have 21 undergraduate and graduate students taking part in this training. They will learn the offline tools. IMET is a tool use to assess the management effectiveness of protected areas. Protected areas are like National Parks, conserved areas and reserved areas. We have various categories.

    “IMET was developed by the joint research council of the European Union and we have used this tool to do a lot of assessments and the analyses have proved the effectiveness of management interventions and where interventions are needed. It helps to source and advice policymakers on facilitating resources and to protect our National Parks and conserved areas.”

    Similarly, Edem Mawu, a coach from Ghana, explained that IMET assesses various protected areas by highlighting the challenges, prospects and successes that would be shared among the international community. He declared that everyone has a stake in the protection of the environment.

    On his part, Abednego Gbarway from Liberia, noted that this would be the very first time IMET would be taught in the university. He said the initiative would raise the next generation of conservationists who would protect biodiversity.

    Gbarway emphasized that protected areas apart from providing job opportunities for people in rural communities through tracing, have also helped to safeguard endangered species.

    Paradise News understands that IMET is a Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) tool that allows an in-depth assessment of marine and terrestrial protected areas, regardless of their management categories and governance type. As a decision-support tool, it helps protected area managers take analysis-based management decisions for improved conservation outcomes.