Amongst their many roles, Fisheries Extension Officers (FEO) are tasked with conserving natural resources, through managing water resources, empowering communities and establishing and maintaining existing marine protected areas. However, many FEOs come from a fisheries background, and are disconnected from marine conservation education and knowledge sharing. To help prepare officers for their complex role, CTC supported the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries by developing conservation training modules. Our most recent FEO training session was held from July 23-26 in Semarang, and involved 22 FEOs from Fisheries Management Area 712.

The training session consisted of five topics, with three topics directly related to MPA management: Processes & Interactions in Coastal and Marine Ecosystem, Principles of MPAs, and Principles of Resource Use (sustainable fisheries and tourism) within MPAs. The other two topics related to programs for communities, and encouraging community involvement: The Role of Communities in Monitoring Marine Resource Use, and Measuring Success of Community Involvement for MPAs.  

The training used learning methods that combined presentations with discussions, group work and interactive activities as well as quizzes to assess the participants’ engagement with the training. By the end of the session, participants’ knowledge was increased on average by 17.73%  (from 51.36 to 69.09%). This exceeds our target of a 10% increase from the pre-test score. The participants shared that they felt the training had increased their knowledge and understanding, and were satisfied with their progress.

The participants suggested that future training sessions could include a field trip to both MPA and non-MPA zones, to learn on the ground about implementing their new knowledge. The CTC team is looking forward to incorporating this feedback into future training modules, and continuing our involvement with the important work done by FEOs across Indonesia.