Fact sheet – Climatology and Climatic Variability of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

Fact sheet – Management of Marine Protected Areas

Title of the course
Training workshop on Management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
Rationale
PERSGA has established the Regional Protocol Concerning “the Conservation of Biological Diversity and the Establishment of Network of Protected Areas in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden”. The member states of PERSGA signed the protocol in December 2005 and the concerned national authorities are now following up the ratification procedures through their respective legal bodies.
Following the signing of the protocol, PERSGA started to assess the concerned national agencies in the planning process to indicate areas with valuable marine resources to be proposed and declared as Marine Protected Areas. Site selection and site specific detailed surveys were carried, and management plans were developed for each MPA in the Regional Network.
Evaluation of the current MPAs status is being followed by PERSGA staff and gaps/constraints are being monitored to be tackled through the on-going regional activities and programme. A regional Meeting with the MPAs national experts was held at PERSGA HQ during January 2009 for updating information, promote regional networking and propose activities for the operational program run by PERSGA; also to provide a core for preparing regional MPAs status report-2010. The meeting recommended undertaking regular capacity building and technical workshops to promote and update capacities and enhance networking. The current workshop is organized in accordance with the meeting recommendations.
Objectives
The workshop will focus on the evaluation of the current status of the network of MPAs in the region, to find ways of promotion and enhancement of implementing the Regional Protocol. Several new issues and initiatives in the field of effective management and monitoring of MPAs will be introduced to the participants during the workshop sessions.
Furthermore, the workshop aims at building capacities through sharing knowledge and experiences between the participant MPAs managers, and providing a platform for discussing approaches to implement the regional program.
Participants
Participants of this workshop will be selected based on their qualifications and career; they should be the managers of the declared and proposed Marine Protected Areas in each country.
Each participant should deliver a detailed status report of his MPA includes existing constraints and recommendations for future development.
The total expected number for this workshop is not to exceed 15 participants.
Date and Duration
The duration of the workshop is three working days and it will be conducted during June 28-30, 2010.
Location
PERSGA HQ in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Organizers
The Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Language
The training language is English. Arabic will be used as an auxiliary medium where appropriate
Training Materials/References
Details to be provided at a later stage
Instructors/Keynote speakers
Details to be provided at a later stage g