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The curious mind of young Darwin Even as a child, Charles Darwin was a great explorer. Peer into his scrapbook from 1821 to follow his experiments in his parents' house and his adventures around his home town of Shrewsbury.
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FSC Environmental Education

Project Title: Building Capacity for Biodiversity Conservation in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Country: Belarus

Funder: Defra - PECE (Partners for Environmental Cooperation in Europe )

Project Summary

The overall purpose of the project is to support vital biodiversity field research, train biodiversity practitioners and build capacity for biodiversity conservation around the EECCA region through active participation in field research.

Activities

Preparation

• A documented training course on biodiversity monitoring, establishing biodiversity programmes and community involvement will be produced.

• Briefing information about the field research project in Belarus will be prepared and all participants and project staff will be fully briefed.

Selection

• Partners throughout the EECCA region will be invited to nominate project participants to take part in the 3 week training programme in Belarus .

• Participants will be selected on their ability to use the training and make a significant contribution to biodiversity conservation in their own country.

Training

Four 3-week training courses will be run in Belarus run over 2 years (2 courses per year), with 7 participants per course. Each course will start with 4 days formal training followed by 2 weeks of practical biodiversity research to apply their new skills. A wrap-up of 3 days will help plan how participants will transfer their skills to their country and plan a small biodiversity project.

Application

Participants will be required to develop a proposal for a biodiversity field research and/or environmental education project on returning to their country. These will be submitted to Earthwatch and/or The FSC who will work together to obtain funding for at least 4 of the most suitable projects.

The Field Studies Council, for example, has funding for biodiversity monitoring projects in Azerbaijan , Russian Federation , Kazakhstan , Turkmenistan and Republic of Iran and will use this to deliver projects through the trained participants.

Earthwatch will consider suitable biodiversity field research proposals for inclusion in our portfolio of over 140 field research projects in 50 countries worldwide. Each proposal will be subjected to internal assessment and external peer review to ensure high quality scientific merit and contribution to the conservation of biodiversity.

Dissemination

Participants will each hold a one day dissemination workshop within their organisation to disseminate the results of their training.

Outputs

Documented training course on biodiversity monitoring, establishing biodiversity programmes and community involvement (125 pages)
Four biodiversity training course for 7 participants each.
Twenty eight preliminary proposals for biodiversity field research and/or environmental education projects submitted to Earthwatch and The FSC.
At least 4 of the above projects to be selected for development as PECE follow-up projects.
Small dissemination events held.

Electronic network of support and exchange of good practice

Expected Outcomes

Increased understanding amongst 28 participants of biodiversity monitoring and community involvement in biodiversity conservation.
Enhanced capacity amongst key people and organisations throughout the EECCA region in biodiversity monitoring, conservation and project development.
Sharing of good practice for biodiversity monitoring and conservation throughout the EECCA region.