Port Blair, Dec. 17: To strengthen the capacity of the frontline forest staff of the Andaman and Nicobar Forest department, a training program of ‘SCUBA diving cum underwater marine biodiversity monitoring’ was organized in the Havelock Island from 24th December to 30th December 2018 by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun as a part of the CAMPA Dugong recovery program being implemented in the Islands.
The course was attended by 11 frontline forest staff members (Forester/ Forest Guards) of three regions viz; the Havelock range, Wandoor Range and Mayabunder division.
The participants were given hands on training to use basic field Equipments, conducting boat surveys and mapping seagrass habitats using random quadrat method. Later they underwent SCUBA diving training in collaboration with DIVE INDIA, Havelock where seven participants were trained for open Waters, one participant for advanced open water and one for specialty training as an underwater naturalist.
The overall program was facilitated by Shri. Shaji Abraham, Divisional Forest Officer, Havelock Division. The training received an overwhelming response. The primary objective of this course was to sensitize the staff about the importance of marine life in the Islands and its conservation implications. This program is a step towards involving the frontline forest staff in research and monitoring activities as they form a crucial stakeholder in marine life conservation.