Adapting to the Covid-19 Pandemic: Remote Training for Dugong Catch and Bycatch Questionnaire
Pak Naftali, Tarabitan’s village Marine Protected Area group chairman, monitoring the MPA in North Minahasa, Indonesia © YAPEKA
Abu Dhabi, September 2020 - As the world continues to be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, our partner in Indonesia, YAPEKA has been finding creative ways to address these ongoing challenges. One of the project activities under the International Climate Initiative (IKI) supported Seagrass Ecosystem Services Project, is the delivery of the standardized Dugong Catch and Bycatch questionnaire. The successful delivery of this questionnaire requires training for enumerators to be able to carry out the survey and capture the collected data. After consulting with the Marine Research Foundation (MRF), one of the implementing and technical partner organisations in the project, the training for YAPEKA was held online.
The first session was delivered in March 2020. In this session, MRF’s representative, Dr. Nicolas Pilcher, explained key concepts, such as the logic behind each question. The next sessions included a Q&A, a trial session interviewing stakeholders, and a discussion on spatial data. The last training session on data inputs, was held in July 2020. YAPEKA’s field team collected the data in July and August 2020 in the districts of North Minahasa and Sangihe, in North Sulawesi. The data inputs are planned to be completed in September 2020.
“Participating in the training remotely and delivering the survey during the pandemic had its challenges. It took more time, as the programme had to be adapted to shorter sessions to address the challenge of staying focused during online training. An unstable internet connection, especially in Sangihe, which is a remote group of islands was an additional challenge. Additionally, the communities we work with, stopped all access during the first months of the pandemic, which meant that we had to wait until the end of the lock-down to conduct the survey.” Ami Raini Putriraya, YAPEKA Site Manager - North Sulawesi
Despite these challenges, the remote training was completed without significant problems and provided useful remote-working experiences for the other project partners in Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Timor-Leste. The data collected will help to identify key areas for seagrass and dugongs, which will allow YAPEKA to support the communities in developing effective conservation measures.
A remote training session in Sangihe, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, in March 2020 © YAPEKA
Last updated on 04 Octobre 2020
