An opportunity exists for an early to mid-career professional in the Pacific, working in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), to attend the 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) in Vancouver, Canada.
The global forum, which brings together ocean conservation professionals and high-level officials to inform, inspire and act on MPAs is scheduled for September 2022. The call for applications has been made to interested candidates from the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
“We are very excited about this great opportunity for a young professional from the Pacific to be part of this global gathering,” said Ms Amanda Wheatley, SPREP Biodiversity Adviser.
“The meeting’s goal is to better advance international efforts to protect the world ocean. There are many benefits for the participants including opportunities to network with other experts from around the world while learning the latest advances in marine conservation and management. The Pacific island participation and engagement is very important as we look to scale up effective conservation action in the region.”
The application process is available online and is quite simple. Part of the process requires candidates to tell us in 250 words about themselves, the work they do and how it is contributing to Pacific islands marine and coastal protection at community, national and regional level. The successful candidate will receive a return economy airfare from the country of residence to Vancouver, paid accommodation, per diem for the duration of the congress in Vancouver, visa and meeting registration costs.
ABOUT IMPAC5
The timing of IMPAC5 was designed to catch the wave of other important international conferences on ocean protection taking place in 2022 including:
*15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15), taking place in Kunming China;
*One Ocean Summit that took place in France in February 2022.
*United Nations Ocean Conference, taking place from 27 June to 01 July 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal
Holding IMPAC5 in September 2022 will allow attendees to reflect on progress made during these international meetings and come prepared to chart a detailed course to protect 30% of the World Ocean by 2030. IMPAC5 will take place one year after the 26th IUCN World Conservation Congress and will serve as an opportunity to gauge progress on commitments made in Marseille, France in 2021.
SOURCE: SPREP/PACNEWS
