As part of the Training Program for Park guards from the National System of Protected Areas, under the leadership of SERNAP, and with the support of the Italian Development Cooperation, the field course “Strengthening capacities for facilitators in management of protected areas” was conducted between September 25th and October 3rd in San Buenaventura, next-door to Madidi Protected Area and Pilón Lajas Biosphere Reserve. A total of 35 people participated, among them there were heads of protection and park guards from different national and subnational protected areas, as well as park guards from Peru.
WCS Bolivia team was invited to lecture on 3 relevant topics related to protected area management and use of natural resources and productive initiatives in protected areas, a conceptual framework and application of impact mitigation hierarchy and management of environmental conflicts in protected areas. Key issues were presented on these topics, as well as relevant experiences and lessons learned, complemented with real-life examples on application of the instruments.