Capacity Development

The Center for Protected Area Management (CPAM) works to enhance the capacity of people and organizations working across the globe to ensure that protected areas are effectively and equitably managed.   We build strategic partnerships with key conservation organizations and national and subnational institutions responsible for protected area management in selected countries to design capacity building programs that focus on improved institutional performance, individual technical skills development, and more effective management of protected areas.

a woman talking to a classroom

These programs are customized, based on needs assessments and conservation priorities, and can include different thematic areas and target different capacity needs and regions.  We include a combination of training needs assessments, short-term training courses, international technical visits, multi-year training programs, online trainings, internships, demonstration sites, and other capacity development activities.

Capacity Development: The United Nations Development Program defines capacity development as “the process through which individuals, organizations and societies obtain, strengthen and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time”.