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WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP TO BUILD EXPERTISE IN TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

by Rosie Trevelyan and Brigid Barry

Conservation of biological diversity depends upon a critical mass of dedicated, well-trained people who truly care about the environment. The work of the Tropical Biology Association (TBA) is helping to achieve this goal in Africa through practical training alongside its global network of conservation scientists.

The TBA is best known for its field courses in East Africa and Madagascar that provide hands-on training in tropical ecology and conservation to graduate-level biologists. The courses bring together African and European students in equal numbers so that participants can share experiences and make international links. A recent student wrote, "We studied more than conservation and tropical ecology, we learned about the culture, experiences, and works of students and professors from all over the world."

Following their TBA courses, our trainees receive a targeted program of follow-up support to help them apply their new skills and contacts back home. With more than 800 trainees from 170 institutions within 40 different countries, our alumni network has an extensive range. Through constant feedback and a well-structured database we are able to provide our alumni with advice on grants, employment opportunities, Ph.D. studentships, and masters scholarships. Each year, the TBA sponsors memberships in the Society for Conservation Biology for more than 40 African alumni and offers three or four masters scholarships to help recent alumni develop their careers further. We are very proud of the TBA follow-up support program and will continue to develop the program in the future.

As demand for conservation capacity building grows, TBA has developed new initiatives to meet this challenge. We have moved beyond the individual level to help build capacity at the institutional level. Following consultations with various partners, TBA developed a series of workshops aimed at building skills in preparing grant proposals, writing papers for publication, and developing curricula for field courses. During the first workshop in Kenya last year, each participant represented an organization or institution in Kenya and were in turn required to share these skills with their colleagues and provide feedback. Building on the feedback and success of that workshop the next will be held in Tanzania in August 2005.

The Tropical Biology Association recently celebrated ten years of running field courses in Africa. A reunion held in Nairobi brought together TBA alumni from 1994 to 2004. A similar reunion in Khartoum was organized by Sudanese alumni to discuss their research and the future of conservation in Sudan and to create a Sudanese TBA association. More than 80% of alumni are still in touch with the TBA office, and it is clear that the TBA has helped launch highly successful careers in biology and conservation. These include heads of national conservation NGOs, scientific advisors to wildlife departments, natural resource managers in government agencies, managers of community conservation programs, and university professors.

Closer to home, TBA has become a joint organizer of the Student Conference on Conservation Science held at the Department of Zoology, Cambridge, United Kingdom (www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/sccs). The conference provides an exciting forum for conservation biologists to present their work, make international links, and attend lectures and workshops from established biologists. Seventeen of our TBA alumni from both Europe and Africa were able to attend this year. For many it was an important chance to present their current research and another method of strengthening our network.

Finally, we were thrilled to receive a 2005 SCB Distinguished Service Award. The TBA was selected for this honor in recognition of our " . . . contribution to the conservation of tropical biodiversity through unique and innovative capacity building and fostering of expertise and support for young conservation biologists."

We are keen to expand the TBA network and create links with other organizations involved in capacity building in Africa and elsewhere. For more information please visit www.tropical-biology.org or contact us at tba@tropical-biology.org.

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