BUILDING CO-BENEFITS OF PROTECTED AREAS FOR COMMUNITIES IN MELANESIA

A training program has commenced with the Solomon Islands Ranger Association (SIRA) to meet their immediate and longer-term training needs in relation to protected and conserved areas in the Solomon Islands. This project is led by the SIRA rangers, with support through PAC and BMWHI.

The project follows a 2019 SIRA training program delivered by the Queensland Ranger Association (QRA). Roger James, a ranger with the Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service (QPWS) and involved in the 2019 program, is working with BMWHI and PAC as project manager of the 2022 program. We are grateful to the QPWS for their support in covering Roger’s time on this project.

This 2022 training will complement the basic entry-level 2019 QRA Rangers Training Rangers manual with a new manual that addresses further issues especially compliance and management capacity. The 2022 Rangers and Communities Implementing Management Plans training course will be tailored to the unique challenges and legal framework of the Solomons.

In conjunction with development of the SIRA training package, a ranger certification training program is being established using the new training manual, as a partnership between SIRA and the Solomon Islands National University (SINU). This will ensure the ongoing availability and delivery of the training for rangers.

A resource kit developed by BMWHI for protected areas in Papua New Guinea in 2020, will be adapted to suit the needs of SIRA, and to support the ongoing delivery of the SINU/SIRA training program. The resources will address topics such as: Protected area fundamentals – eg law and regulations, legal frameworks and rights; staff capacity; concepts and principles; governance (draw upon resource kit prepared for PNG); safeguarding community rights and interests.

The 2022 SIRA training will culminate in ranger participation in the inaugural Oceania Ranger Forum in New Zealand, October 2022, with the theme ‘Inclusive Conservation’. The forum is organised by the IRF’s Oceania regional body and the Council of Oceania Rangers (CORA) and supported by the Thin Green Line Foundation. A later exchange between SIRA and New Zealand rangers is anticipated.