Protected and conserved area(s) concerned

Mount Diablo and its environs, St Ann

The BIOPAMA AC Objectives addressed

• Enhance the management and governance of priority protected areas by addressing existing limitations.

• Enforce the legal framework required to achieve effective biodiversity conservation in PAs.

Priority need addressed

The Pilot project will address the following:

• Enhanced Forest Enforcement & Governance.

• Capacity Building through the use of technology and vehicle support.

Project activities

The project seeks to pilot an approach that will allow for a dedicated team of forest rangers (between two to four), equipped with needed resources to address identified gaps in patrol planning allowing for improved enforcement, while also supporting improved governance and management. Successes from this pilot will be replicated with additional response teams established in other targeted areas island wide and are reliant on achieving the following outcomes and activities.

Outcome 1 – Increased Forest enforcement and governance will include the development of mobile emergency rapid response procedure documents (SOP); conducting Mobile Response Procedures & Reporting training, procuring necessary tools and equipment to support initiatives, conducting Forest Law & Investigation training; Conduct UAV/Drone Operation training, erecting perimeter fencing to support boundary marking activities, fabricating and installing signage to support boundary marking and visibility activities and launching mobile emergency rapid response and conduct post impact evaluation. The project will also include stakeholder partnership meetings / community engagement meetings held to support establishment.

The change the project implementation will bring for the protected area(s)

The development of an effective mobile emergency response team would provide the following expected change(s):

• Increased field support for enforcement and governance- The establishment of the response team, signage and efforts to mark boundaries would allow for improved patrolling of the area, better engagement, and communication with surrounding communities, and enhanced control of the protected area.

• Established and effectively trained mobile emergency rapid response team- The effectively trained response team would address gaps in patrolling procedures for response and reporting as well as forest laws and investigations utilising technology such as drones and communication devices.  This would set a model that can be replicated. The use of a vehicle as the primary mode of patrolling will allow for a wider expanse of difficult areas quickly and efficiently.

• Strengthened cross-system partnerships- Increased training and capacity building will afford the opportunity to leverage more resources and strengthen cross-system partnerships with other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and stakeholders to bolster the efforts of the Forestry Department by improving response and offer greater support in addressing breaches. Strengthened partnerships would allow for increased coverage for detection and response to offences.

• Improved response time to reported incidences of offences – With current response times averaging 48-72 hours (particularly on weekends), the identification and launch of a dedicated mobile response team will reduce this long response time to within reasonable response rates of 12 to 24hrs.

• Reduction of new offences – With the increased disruption to illicit activities anticipated owning to the rapid response intervention, it is expected that this will serve as a deterrent. An indicator of mid-term behavioural change for the area.

Download the project infofiche.

Implementing organisations

Forestry Department

Photo credits: © Tanika Stewart

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