Participants from several DNP and DMCR’s regional and provincial offices were invited, such as the Protected Area Regional Office 5, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Hat Chao Mai National Park, Mu Koh Petra National Park, Mu Koh Lanta National Park, Mu Koh Libong Non-Wildlife Hunting Area, DMCR-Office of Marine and Coastal Resources 7 Trang, the Lower Andaman Marine and Coastal Resources Research Center and Trang Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment.

The training included key components for developing the management plan, including the framework of national park management plan and wildlife conservation and protection plans for non-wildlife hunting areas. A good practice of protected area management plan, regulations, methods and conditions of the public hearing procedures were shared with the participants. The assessment tools for protected area management; for example, SWOT-TOWS, conflict mapping and the IUCN Green List Standard had been introduced to the participants. The keynote speakers from DNP, Kasetsart University and Prince of Songkla Nakarin University were invited to share their technical knowledge and insights with the participants.

Currently, under the National Parks Act B.E. 2562 and the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act B.E. 2562, all national parks have required all protected areas under DNP’s administration to develop a national park management plan, and the Wildlife Sanctuary and Non- Wildlife Hunting areas are also required to develop the wildlife conservation and protection plans. DNP has prioritized the engagement of communities and local authorities in the planning process by developing guidelines for the national park management plan and for wildlife conservation and protection plan for Wildlife Sanctuaries and Non-Wildlife Hunting areas to apply in their development process. After this, the targeted marine protected areas in this project will complete the 1^st draft of their plan and organize the public hearing events for the final step of the plan completion accordingly.

This activity was organised as part of the project activities that IUCN and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) have agreed to collaborate on for the implementation of the “Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Conservation and Management Project” in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam and China. The project aims to 1) build the capacity of Marine Protected Area (MPA) managers in the target countries, 2) strengthen the management of selected MPAs in the beneficiary countries; and 3) enhance regional cooperation on the conservation and management of the inter-tidal wetlands of the Yellow Sea.