Abstract

The thousands of MPAs worldwide represent increasingly complex management institutions that require highly diverse skill sets to optimally manage. These areas are often managed by staff without formal training, continued skill development, or associations to certify professional development and to represent MPA staff as a skilled trade like any other. This is a suboptimal paradigm for managing the institutions increasingly responsible for protecting threatened natural and social capital from diverse threats including climate change. Without professional development infrastructure similar to other important professions (from teachers to electricians to physicians), MPA practitioners are often hard-pressed to acquire the resources and respect from business and political interests that are essential to long term success. In addition to quality training programs in the classroom and the field, staff should be empowered through their full career cycle by professionalizing career development with the aid of transparent performance standards. These can be achieved through carefully designed certification programs that recognize performance on the job. A partnership to work with existing organizations to further professionalize marine and terrestrial PA management worldwide is in development by IUCN through the WCPA Training Task Force, the Global Protected Areas Programme, and the CBD Secretariat, with many global partners. The plan includes: 1) development of high-quality open access curricula specific to rangers, managers, or system administrators; 2) accreditation of partner institutions and creation of a scholarship trust fund for trainees; and 3) establishing regional certification programs for MPA professionals based on proven job performance using the successful MPA PRO model.