What is WIO-COMPAS?
The Western Indian Ocean Certification of Marine Protected Area Professionals (WIO-COMPAS) Programme is a certification programme that evaluates MPA practitioners and ensures that they meet the highest standards in the MPA management speciality. WIO-COMPAS is a joint initiative of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) and the Coastal Resources Center (CRC) at the University of Rhode Island (URI).
WIO-COMPAS is a comprehensive and independent evaluation system of MPA practitioners’ experience, knowledge and skills. It ensures that MPA practitioners in the WIO are meeting the highest standards in the MPA management speciality. Certification is a voluntary process that demonstrates an MPA practitioner’s commitment to meeting a higher standard. Certified MPA professionals (MPA PROs) have worked in MPAs for more than three years, completed different professional training and have demonstrated competencies (skills, knowledge and abilities) required for MPA management.
To maintain their certification, the MPA PROs continue to update their knowledge, participate in ongoing professional development, demonstrate that they are improving their MPAs, and consistently meet standards of professionalism. By meeting the requirements of continuing certification, MPA PROs are making a concerted effort to stay up to date and to sustain and improve the quality of the MPAs where they work.
For more, please visit the WIO-COMPAS website: https://www.wio-compas.org/
The certification process
Levels of Certification
Why a Certification Program?
In contrast to stand-alone training courses, the WIO-COMPAS Programme signals that an individual has reached a standard level of performance and skills related to a specific set of competences based on not only a course of study/training, but practical experience, application and testing.
Certified individuals have also agreed to adhere to a set of professional standards of conduct or code of ethics. WIO-COMPAS is not a training course. It does support other training programmes by establishing internationally recognized standards of performance for the WIO Region.