AEWA Training of Trainers (ToT) courses on flyway conservation are designed to equip participants with the necessary know-how to design and deliver similar training courses and organize awareness-raising events to promote flyway conservation at the level of their organizations and more widely at the national level. Here are some examples of how participants in the 2019 regional ToT course in Benin have been passing on the knowledge and skills gained:

SENEGAL:

As a direct outcome of the training of trainers, a six-day training course was delivered from 21-26 October 2019 at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, in collaboration with the Department of National Parks (Direction des Parcs Nationaux, DPN) and the Department of Marine Protected Areas (Direction des Aires Marines Communautaires Protégées, DAMCP). Some 25 participants were trained on waterbird identification and counting as well as the sustainable management of waterbirds and their habitats. The trainees were able to deepen their newly acquired theoretical knowledge by applying it in practical exercises and a field trip to the Grande Niaye de Pikine (commonly known as Technopôle), an urban wetland in the heart of Dakar which was designated as an Urban Nature Reserve in March 2019. During the training, the DPN - which is the national AEWA implementing agency in Senegal - provided some optical equipment and bird identification guides to support training programme in ecology and ecosystem management offered by UCAD.

TOGO:

A two-day training course on waterbird identification and monitoring was organised from 4-5 November 2019 for the students of the Master’s programme on Ecology and Wildlife Management (Écologie et Gestion des Ressources Fauniques) of Lomé University. This training course was organized by the Department of Forestry in Togo, which is the national AEWA implementing agency, with support from the Department of Water and Forestry of Guinea (national AEWA implementing agency in Guinea) and Guinea Ecology NGO, which both participated at the regional ToT course in Benin.

BENIN:

In June 2019, the Beninese NGO Centre Régional de Recherche et d'Education pour un Developpement Intégré (CREDI-ONG) organised two awareness-raising events for teenage members of the nature club Connaître et Proteger la Nature. One activity focused on the concept of flyway migration and the second on bird identification These events took place at the Sitatunga Valley, a community-managed nature reserve located north of Cotonou, established with the support of CREDI-ONG. In addition to hosting a rich diversity of flora and fauna, this reserve offers a wide range of ecosystem services to some 20 villages in the Abomey-Calavi and Sô-Ava municipalities, such as the provision of fresh water, regulation of ecosystem processes and also spiritual, cultural, recreational, scientific and esthetic services. Sensitization on the ecosystem values of the site is thus of crucial importance to ensure its sustainable use.

GABON:

A ToT participant from the national AEWA implementing agency in Gabon - the Directorate General of Aquatic Ecosystems - in collaboration with the AEWA National Focal Point for Gabon organised an information-sharing session in June 2019 on the flyway approach to waterbird and wetlands conservation, targeting officials from the Directorate General of Aquatic Ecosystems.   

GUINEA:

As an integral part of the regional ToT course in Benin, representatives from each participating country jointly developed concept notes on project ideas for the design and delivery of national flyway training courses, in order to equip participants with skills for targeted future fund-raising. The project concept note developed by the participants from Guinea was successful in securing an immediate micro seed grant from the Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative (WSFI) to support the delivery of the designed national training on waterbird and wetlands monitoring, bird identification and counting, flyway conservation and relevant policy issues. This course took place from 9-12 December 2019, led by the two participants of the 2019 Benin regional ToT course, one from Guinea Ecology NGO and the other from the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forestry (MEEF), which is the national AEWA implementing agency. Support was provided by the AEWA National Focal Point, a MEEF expert trained in a previous regional flyway ToT course organized by Wetlands International and the Garoua Wildlife College in Limbe, Cameroon, in 2009  , as well as a technical expert from the Dutch Center for Field Ornithology. Some 25 conservation officials from MEEF and Guinea Ecology participated in the course.