Smithsonian Tiger Conservation Partnership to launch Regional Smart Patrol Training courses early in the new year

Under the Global Tiger Initiative’s support programs for capacity building, the Smithsonian Tiger Conservation Partnership has announced two new Regional Smart Patrol training courses to begin just after the New Year. The first training will commence January 8, 2012 in Bangkok and Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in eastern Thailand. The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, the World Bank Group, Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and other partner organizations will jointly facilitate the course, which will last until January 22. This round of training is targeting conservation practitioners from South East Asian countries, including: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

The second tranche of this regional training program will get off the ground on January 29 in Nepal. Participants – mainly from South Asian Countries, plus China, and Russia – will travel to Kathmandu and Chitwan National Park. The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, the World Bank Institute, Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, the National Trust for Nature Conservation, the World Wildlife Fund, and other partner organizations are organizing the courses in Nepal, which will finish on February 13.

These courses are designed to enhance the capabilities of protected area management teams, including protected area managers, technical staff, NGO specialists, and forest patrol leaders. On-site training and the implementation of smart patrolling systems help strengthen performance in law enforcement for tiger protection in tiger range countries and support the National Tiger Recovery Priorities that were adopted in the Global Tiger Recovery Program.

Other specific objectives of the courses include

• An introduction to modern systematic patrolling technologies and strategies, tools and tactics to improve the capacity and effectiveness of law enforcement in reducing the poaching of tigers, and tiger prey.

• Professionalization of protected area management teams

• Enhanced technological and scientific knowledge of wildlife management.

For more details, see the Smithsonian Tiger Conservation Partnership portal at the Smithsonian Zoo website.