Four Officers to attend Park Rangers Training Camp in Florida

Two officers from the National Parks, Rivers and Beaches Authority, along with two officers from the Tobago Cays Marine Park left the country on Sunday, April 15, for Florida, where they will be engaged in a two-week Park Rangers training camp.{{more}}

While at the Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park, the four men will benefit from hands-on training in both marine and terrestrial park management and monitoring.

The four are Park Rangers Stanley Walker, Erasto Robertson and Benjamin Wilson, along with Marine Biologist Olando Harvey.

As explained by Director of National Parks Andrew Wilson, during a media briefing on Friday, April 13 at the Forestry Office, the training comes at a total cost of US$25,000.

Funding of US$10,000 was provided through the UNEP-CEP/CaMPAM project dubbed “Regional support for the Caribbean Challenge initiative” with the support of the Directorate General of International Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Support would also be provided by the Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park.

“This two weeks hands-on training program is expected to expose our staff to best practices in Parks and areas management and monitoring and should serve to further build capacity to effectively carry out their function within the Parks and Protected areas system of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Hayden Billingy, Superintendent of the Rivers and Beaches Sites said that the two-week training will serve as an exciting experience for the Park Rangers.

“For the first time, our Park Rangers and the Protected Areas personnel will be exposed to a series of training that not only includes the marine component, but also includes the terrestrial aspects of things…”

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture Elvis Charles, on congratulating the participants, said that the opportunity awarded to the four individuals to further advance their training, “will no doubt bear tremendous fruits.”

“If a country is to move forward and develop rapidly, the human resources must be trained and if the product is to be of a high quality again, emphasis has to be placed on the training and the human resources of any country,” he said.

Charles also commended the National Parks, Rivers and Beaches Authority and those responsible for funding, in making the overseas training possible.

All four participants expressed gratitude for the opportunity and pledged their commitment to the training.(AA)