Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development has planned the Second edition of the Data Training Workshop on Protected and Conservated Areas under the Regional Resource Hub from 20th to 24th March 2023 from 9am to 5pm EAT. The training workshop will be held physically at RCMRD premises in Nairobi Kenya. Participants will be drawn from the following countries; Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Regional Resource Hub acts as one of the regional observatories implemented by the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) programme and hosted by the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) in Nairobi covering Eastern and Southern Africa. 

BIOPAMA aims to improve the long-term conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, in protected areas and surrounding communities. It is an initiative of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States financed by the European Union’s 11th European Development Fund, jointly implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC).

Download the Full Agenda

The objectives of the training are as follows:

• To demonstrate and discuss the importance of data and information in decisions related to effectiveness and governance in protected and conserved areas
• To engage on how the countries will participate in the preparation of the State of Protected and Conserved Areas Report 2023 (SOPACA) that will be released this year
• To demonstrate the information management process of the RRH (data collection and process until elaboration of the information and knowledge products) to allow countries to engage actively with the Regional Reference Information System
• To demonstrate and discuss the role the RRH can play in reporting processes, for e.g., to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
• To understand what the interest and needs of users and potential users in the countries are to allow the RRH team to improve the services and products available 
• Launch the RRH community of practice that has evolved from the TEAMs networks
• To learn about some existing opportunities under Conservation Programs run by various institutions like ESRI, OpenStreetMap etc