Training young seabird officers and conservationists in West Africa (Cabo Verde

People can be empowered for positive change

When empowered with information and appropriate skills, local communities are able to protect important sites from harmful development.

Training young seabird officers and conservationists in West Africa (Cabo Verde)

“Protecting Threatened and Endemic Species in Cabo Verde: a Major Island Restoration Project”, funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), trained local staff on fieldwork techniques, data management and report writing, among other actions. Sociedade Portuguesa Para o Estudo das Aves (SPEA – BirdLife in Portugal) and Biosfera, an NGO from São Vicente (Cabo Verde) collaborated on the project from 2013 to 2015.

The training involved workshops, fieldwork supervised by researchers from SPEA and RSPB (BirdLife Partners in Portugal and the UK) and Coimbra University, and included visits to other international projects. Several officers from Biosfera, including biologists, financial and administrative staff, as well as local fieldworkers benefited from it.