Call Call for Applicantsfor Applicants

Regional Regional training course ontraining course on

Earth Earth Observation Observation TTools ools for for Wetlands Wetlands EEcosystems cosystems

Management Management and Valuationand Valuation

18th to 22nd APRIL, 2016NAIROBI, KENYA

COURSECOURSE INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION

Wetlands play a vital role in storing and purifying water for human use, recharge natural aquifers

when they run low, retain nutrients in floodplains, help control flooding and regulate local climate.

They are also places of remarkable biological diversity: freshwater wetlands alone are home to

four in ten of all the world's species, and one in eight of global animal species.

These benefits of Ecosystems are threatened by river regulation, with diversion of water from

rivers causing considerable environmental costs, particularly to floodplains and downstream

wetlands. This means that there is a need for better management practices to apply the wise use

approached in order to conserve the wetlands ecosystems.

The earth observation tools are being used to support water resources management process

worldwide, as it is capable of providing more knowledge and information which could be of great

benefit to decision makers. It is being used for inventorying, monitoring and assessing of wetland

ecosystems.

NileNile EcoEco--VWUVWU BackgroundBackground

The project wetlands valuation for wise-Use (Nile-Eco-VWU) is a collaborative research Project of

10 international and regional consortium member institutions.

The (Nile-Eco-VWU) is a regional research project that aims to develop and test integrated tools for

ecosystems services valuation and assessment that can be applied at local and regional scalesecosystems services valuation and assessment that can be applied at local and regional scales

within the Nile Basin. The main focus of the project is on wetlands ecosystems where wetlands are

considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems. The steady and ongoing decline of

wetlands extent and quality of wetlands in the Nile basin will lead to a further net decrease of

overall value, unless managed with greater focus taking into account total economic value that

includes measurements of direct use, indirect-use and non-use. These aspects are covered in the

project by looking at wetlands with a wider ecosystems-services approach that includes

assessment of so-called Regulating, Habitat and Cultural Services, as well as direct use

Provisioning services.

The project includes four pilot areas in the Nile Basin: Mara ecosystem in Tanzania and Kenya,

Burullus Northern coastal lake wetlands in Nile Delta of Egypt, Nakivubo wetlands in Uganda and

the Blue Nile back swamps and Dinder park in Sudan..

CourseCourse ObjectivesObjectives

The project is designed to be an integrated capacity development programme focusing on both

research and training activities. Therefore, a training programme was designed within this

project to build capacity of researchers and practitioners in the field of wetlands ecosystems to

use and apply the earth observations tools in the management process. This is the third training

course of four training courses are designed to cover the different stages of the project output

and to support the participation of the project researchers in addition to participants from all the

other basin countries from universities, research centres and wetlands authorities.

The specific objectives of the training course are:

• Get Better understanding of the earth observations tools and concepts

• Be more familiar with using EO as tools for wetland ecosystem management.

• How to Map and monitor the wetland ecosystem,

• How can EO tools support valuation of wetland ecosystem,

• Be familiar with open source EO tools such as QGIS/WOIS

TRAININGTRAINING APPROACHAPPROACH

The training course will use different learning tools, focusing on participants sharing their own experiences

from the Nile basin, and guided by the introduction of new conceptual approaches and tools supported by

case studies. There will be a combination of short lectures, practical exercises, group work and

discussions. The course will be supported by training materials developed by ITC and SzentIstván

University. Each participant will be given a full training package with all resources and material used in the

training.

ORGANISATIONORGANISATION ANDAND PARTNERSPARTNERS

The Training course will be organized by NBCBN-SEC in collaboration with the project partners especially

Watercap, ITC, Szent István University and and Cap-net. The course is planned to be implemented in

Kenya (Nairobi). The course is supported and sponsored by the Nile Eco-VWU project (CGIAR/WLE).

WHOWHO SHOULDSHOULD APPLYAPPLY

The course will in particular target participants from the Nile-Eco-VWU project researchers and young

professionals from the Nile basin countries with basic experience and background on wetlands and

ecosystems management. In this context, participants are expected to come from multidisciplinaryecosystems management. In this context, participants are expected to come from multidisciplinary

backgrounds with a common focus on wetlands and ecosystems management. All NBCBN network

members with backgrounds on wetlands ecosystems are eligible to apply for this course. The

maximum expected number of participants is 25, respecting gender and geographic balance.

Applicants should fulfil the following criteria:• Have basic background in GIS and Remote sensing.

• Have good experience in wetlands ecosystems management and valuation.

HOWHOW TOTO APPLYAPPLY

Interested candidates should submit an application form together with their abridged Curriculum

Vitae (maximum 2 pages) to the NBCBN Secretariat E-mail: nbcbnnbcbn--sec@nbcbnsec@nbcbn..netnet

before the 28thof March. Application should be accompanied by a letter of support from the

employer which outlines how the applicant plans to use the training received to support their own

professional career, institution or professional network.

FINANCIALFINANCIAL SUPPORTSUPPORT

Full support (travel, per-diem, accommodation, training package) will be awarded to 20 participants

and 5 places will be reserved for self-funded applicants.

COURSECOURSE DATESDATES ANDAND VENUEVENUE

The course is proposed to be held over a period of 5 days, from 18th to 22ndApril 2016, at the AICAD

Center, Nairobi, Kenya.

For more information on the Nile Eco-VWU Research Project, visit the project website: www.nile-eco-vwu.net