September 2007
by Margo McShane

From July 1–8 CEA hosted the fifth Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) course, which was taught in conjunction with the National University of Mexico (UNAM), Florida International University (FIU) and Nova Southwestern University.

The course consisted of many lectures by a number of scientists, MPA managers and practitioners, as well as hands-on field trips including Cancún and Xcaret. The 28 participating students were from a wide variety of backgrounds, consisting of faculty and graduate students from UNAM, FIU, and students from other Latin American countries. The course was fully bilingual, which brought together people from all around the Americas to see the greater picture and to unite in ideas of how to help protect marine areas globally.

The course aimed to take an interdisciplinary approach to examining the ecological and socioeconomic challenges of designing and managing Marine Protection Areas with emphasis on South Florida and the Mesoamerican coral reefs. By bringing together both scientific and social management methods the hope is to implement a more cohesive strategy for MPAs.

At the end of the course there was a great deal of positive feedback from newly inspired students, all taking away a new perspective about MPAs.

Para leer este articulo en español, haz clic aquí.