The IMET tool is used to measure and manage protected areas. To this end, a workshop on the integration of this tool and the Green List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was organized for Burundian academics and African coaches interested in environmental challenges.
The training on the IMET tool is intended for students and teachers of the University of Burundi interested in environmental challenges. It also aims to retrain coaches from different West and Central African countries in terms of effective management of protected areas.
The University of Burundi is hosting, from August 26 to 30, 2024, a training workshop on the tool called Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool (IMET) and the Green List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This training is intended for students and teachers of the University of Burundi interested in environmental challenges. It also aims to retrain coaches from different West and Central African countries in the management effectiveness of protected areas.
This workshop, which introduces IMET and the IUCN Green List in African universities while retraining coaches in protected area management effectiveness, is organized by the Biodiversity and Protected Area Management Programme (BIOPAMA) in collaboration with the African Network of Coaches for Protected Area Management Effectiveness (RACEGAP). This programme, which is an initiative of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of States, is funded by the European Union and implemented by IUCN.
“He who cannot measure, cannot manage”
In his speech, Leonidas Nzigiyimpa, President of the African Network of Coaches for the Effectiveness of Protected Area Management (RAGEGAP), stressed that the IMET tool was developed to support protected area managers in improving the management of these sites and, more generally, for the conservation of biodiversity. He who cannot measure, cannot manage. “, he added. For him, the IMET coaches, of which he is a part, constitute a center of excellence dedicated to this noble task.
Aly Coulibaly, representative of the regional coordinator of the BIOPAMA program for Central and West Africa, stressed the progression of ecosystem degradation. For him, this is due to human actions as well as the effects of climate change. Hence BIOPAMA’s intervention to support ecosystem conservation initiatives in Africa. Mr. Nzigiyimpa agrees. He illustrates that today, the world is facing the challenges of climate change: a significant degradation of natural resources where biological resources and certain animal species are endangered or disappearing. But Mr. Coulibaly remains optimistic. According to him, efforts are currently being made to ensure that protected areas are well managed. There is awareness among States, communities and NGOs that intervene in this area. If this momentum continues, it will be possible to reverse the trend. The use of IMET is a key example.
The IMET tool, more necessary than ever
IMET is used to support protected area managers by strengthening their capacities so that they can self-assess with the aim of improving or maintaining the way these sites are managed. IMET allows all the necessary information on protected areas to be collected in a standardized manner, organized, processed and analyzed, in order to obtain data that can be used to make good management decisions. In other words, IMET allows us to understand the situation of a protected area and formulate key recommendations and operational intervention plans. In addition to this, it is an advocacy tool to convince decision-makers.
To date, nearly 200 protected areas in Central, West, Eastern and Southern Africa have been assessed using the IMET tool. In Burundi, since 2015, IMET has been used in 14 protected areas: three national parks, six nature reserves, three protected landscapes and two natural monuments.
This capacity building workshop brought together coaches from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, etc. The ultimate goal is to integrate IMET into university curricula in order to perpetuate African expertise in evaluating the effectiveness of protected area management.
#Burundi #Eco #IMET #effective #tool #management #protected #areas