JRS grantee Threatened Species Conservation Alliance (THRESCOAL), alongside their partners Project Mecistops (PM) and the Université de Nangui-Abrogoua (UNA), organized a successful in-person workshop at the Forestry Commission Training Centre in Kumasi, Ghana from January 15-19, 2024. This event convened 24 emerging conservation scientists from seven West and Central African countries: Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, and Liberia and marked the first time these participants met face-to-face after collaborating virtually for two years.
The four day event included presentations on species conservation and discussions on social science challenges, grant writing workshops, peer-to-peer learning and personalized support and guidance for proposal development. The workshop organizer and project director, Emmanuel Amoah affirmed that The in-person format provided an amazing connection opportunity that was demonstrated by the positive energy deployed by participants and, even from day one, a sense of community that could not be developed through the previous online sessions.
Workshop participants also made a field visit to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Campus in Kumasi city to observe and discuss an ongoing West African dwarf crocodile research project implemented by THRESCOAL partner Clement Sullibie Saagulo Naabeh. Participants discussed the history of the project, challenges and opportunities of implementation, and gained keen insights from the process undertaken by Clement’s team for this successful conservation project.
By the end of the training, all participants and trainers were energized and stimulated by the various opportunities for team building, networking, and learning provided by this in-person workshop. Following the workshop, all groups demonstrated marked improvements in their commitment, revised project proposals, and are presently incorporating feedback from the project team to move ahead with implementation plans.
Read more about the THRESCOAL Reinforcing the Capacity for Conservation Science and Planning for Young West African Conservationists project here.