Posted: Monday, December 12, 2016. 4:39 p.m. CST.
By BBN Staff: The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) held a two day training workshop for employees from Forest Department and Corozal Sustainable Future Initiative (CSFI) on the use of the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) on December 6th and 7th.
This workshop is a major milestone along Belize’s road to becoming the first country in the world to adopt this globally used tool in both marine and terrestrial realms.
The training was held at CSFI’s facilities in Shipstern Conservation Area, Sarteneja village, Corozal district.
The training is funded by the International Program of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The goal was to strengthen enforcement efforts in Belize’s forests and protected areas.
The SMART tool has revolutionized approaches to monitoring, control and surveillance of protected areas and forests across the globe. It does this by providing a system for managers to better plan, collect, store and analyzes data and report on results to decision makers. It has a low cost to implement (software is free) and is easy to use and understand.
The two day workshop consisted of an introduction to the SMART software, training participants to use the devices to collect data, upload the data collected and understanding how to present results in the report.
WCS will continue to provide technical assistance to organizations including Forest Department, CSFI, Ya’axche Conservation Trust and Friends for Conservation and Development as the SMART tool becomes increasingly adopted across the National Protected Areas System.
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