Coral Triangle Center (CTC), in collaboration with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), recently organized a regional workshop to support the development of a Marine Conservation and Protected Areas (MCPA) capacity development program for Asia and the Coral Triangle region.

The workshop was held on March 6-10, 2023 at CTC’s Center for Marine Conservation in Sanur, Bali and gathered 30 participants from 10 countries. The workshop brought together 28 key capacity providers, MPA advisory experts experienced in skills-building and technical support to marine and coastal resources management and MPCA practitioners from within the Asia Pacific Region.

The main objectives of the workshop was to introduce the IUCN Green List, its associated diagnostic tools,  and its application as a framework for developing and delivering targeted skills building for improving MPA management effectiveness. The workshop also aimed to apply IUCN Green List tools in a ‘live case study’ in the Nusa Penida Marine MPA and facilitate learning from Green Listed MPA site teams. And the development of a Marine Conservation and Protected Areas (MCPA)capacity development programme for the CoralTriangle region, Asia Pacific, building on the Coral Triangle capacity building stocktake assessment and the Green List framework.

The IUCN Green List is the global standard that describes successful area-based conservation. It frames a set of criteria for fair and effective performance of protected areas into four key components, namely: 1) good governance; 2) sound design and planning; 3) effective management; and 4) successful conservation outcomes. It is the only global standard for protected and conserved areas, with the aim to provide an accessible mechanism to help participating sites to achieve and maintain good performance and results.

Through this live case study experience Nusa Penida MPA was successfully approved as a candidate site for the Green List. Bapak Putu Sumardiana, Head of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Service of Bali Province received the certificate from Dr. Pasha Khalid, Regional Protected Areas Coordinator (IUCN Asia Regional Office). Bapak Sumardiana much appreciated this recognition and opportunity for collaboration to further strengthen the management effectiveness of Nusa Penida MPA.

The IUCN Green List Framework can also be used as a diagnostic or analytical tool to conduct gap analyses or feasibility studies, as well as a framework to guide management planning. It uses the Improvement Benchmarking and Evaluation Index (IBEX) tool, which has been designed to help sites through the process of self-assessment and diagnosis, and allows for progressive change and impact to be documented.

During the workshop, the participants also developed an ‘outline framework for a marine protected and conserved area (MPCA) capacity development programme’ based on the IUCN Green List Framework. This capacity development program will be integrated into the planned Coral Triangle Initiative Regional Capacity Building Roadmap.

The participants also identified key capacity development providers in the Coral Triangle regional, including individuals and organisations, that can form a network of resource persons, trainers, coaches with diverse language skills and cultural backgrounds, for the development and delivery of the MPA capacity development program. The participants also provided a range of recommendations in which a network of resource persons for capacity building could be formed.

At the end of the workshop, participants collaboratively developed the following next steps and agreed actions to  collaborate and further build on rolling out the IUCN Green List Framework in the Coral Triangle Region.

Photos: Rili Djohani/CTC, Marthen Welly/CTC, Adam Putra/CTC, Farid/SUFIA-USAID