The limited knowledge and skills of SPNAs (State Protected Natural Areas) staff, coupled with a low level of awareness among the local population regarding the significance of biodiversity conservation and the restoration of natural resources, is a pressing challenge that hinders fully fledged work in environmental protection and biodiversity conservation.
Within the project, educational activities were conducted for the staff of the state nature parks "Alatai" and "Kan-Achuu," the Toktogul and Toguz-Torou forest enterprises, aimed at improving their qualifications, knowledge, and skills. The training materials, consisting of lectures and practical sessions, included educational modules specially developed based on the best international practices in biodiversity conservation, sustainable management and development of protected areas, legislation on wildlife, forestry, etc., and general law enforcement regulation. During the training, staff from the Western Tian Shan nature reserves participated in exchange visits to the Sarychat-Ertash Nature Park in the Issyk-Kul region and the Karatal-Japyryk Nature Park in the Naryn region.
During the project, 5 training modules were developed on the following topics:
Five trainings and two exchange visits were attended by 175 SPNA staff - managers, specialists and rangers (19 of them women).
The level of professional knowledge of the SPNAs staff was determined before and at the end of the training. Comparative analysis showed that the participants' knowledge on certain topics improved by 46%.
