Capacity building for conservation: problems and potential solutions for sub-Saharan Africa

What is it about?

What is the status of conservation capacity developmnet in sub-Saharan Africa? Can it address the rapid increase in the number and extent of environmental problems in the region? A multi-stakeholder workshop drew in 185 delegates (practitioners, scientists, community groups and government agencies) drawn from 105 organisations (24 African nations and eight non-African nations) to address these challenges. The meeting culminated with 39 specific recommendations relevant to four key areas of African conservation capacity building: protected area management, community engagement, effective leadership, and professional e-learning. (1) the development of new methods, (2) the provision of capacity building resources (e.g. information or data), (3) the communication of ideas or examples of successful initiatives, (4) the implementation of new research or gap analyses, (5) the establishment of new structures within and between organizations, and (6) the development of new partnerships.

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