Assessors are responsible for evaluating candidate’s competences through a rigorous process entailing application interviews, core activity documents/casestudy, portfolio reviews, presentations, scenario exercises and face-to-face interviews with candidates. Assessors provide final scores, professional development guidance and certification recommendations to the Board for certification of successful candidates. Their central role is to assess applicant and candidate competences. To accomplish this task, they mentor candidates in the preparation of their pre-assessment documents and provide professional development advice overall in relation to the competences.
Assessor BIOGRAPHIES
- Lawrence Sisitka
Lawrence Sisitka was involved in management of terrestrial protected areas in the United Kingdom for almost 20 years. His final position was overall manager of 53 reserves in the South of England. He also lectured in conservation management, ecology, practical habitat management, management planning, and monitoring and evaluation. Lawrence has been involved in the development and facilitation of training in natural resources management for a range of groups, including government officials, NGO personnel, MPA professionals, protected area personnel and rural communities. To date this includes eight professional development courses in Community-based Natural Resource Management (CB-NRM).His main relevant training was the development of the Rhodes University Environmental Evaluation and Sustainability Unit, and the World Wildlife Foundation’s (WWF-SA) South African MPA Management Training Course. This has been rolled out to 17 MPAs so far. Participants in this course receive Rhodes University Certification after completing rigorous assessed assignments linked to the workplace.
He has conducted numerous evaluations of natural resource (terrestrial and marine) management related interventions in South Africa and other African countries. In addition to his role as a Lead Assessor, Lawrence was contracted by WIO-COMPAS to develop the Programme, in particular to identify the competences required at the three levels of certification; identify training opportunities in the region; and develop a certification framework.
Lawrence received a National Certificate in Horticulture (UK), and a BSc equivalent in Field Biology from the University College of London.
- Arthur Tuda
Arthur Tuda has vast experience in marine conservation. He currently works for Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) currently as the Assistant Director overseeing the Management of 5 MPAs and 4 terrestrial Protected Areas in the Kenya Coastal Area. Mr. Tuda worked as an MPA manager for 12 years rising from an assistant warden to a senior warden before becoming the regional head in 2013. Mr Tuda has a Bsc Degree in Fisheries from Moi University in Kenya and an MSc in Water and Coastal Management form the University of Bergen (Norway) and University of Plymouth (UK). He is currently pursuing his PhD studies in Spain. His research interests are in adaptive management in MPAs, Conservation planning and MPA capacity building. Arthur is a MPA Pro for both level 2 and level 3. He is also a WIO-COMPAS assessor for both L1 and L2.
- Ané Oosthuizen
Ané is the South African Oceans Program Manager for The Nature Conservancy. She previously worked as a marine planner with South African National Parks, based at the Park Planning and Development office in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Ane is a marine biologist by training, have worked on squid and octopus, and completed her PhD in 2004. She was a lecturer at Rhodes University where she lectured in fish ecology and fisheries management. Ane joined SANParks in 2006 and has been responsible for the planning and declaration for new MPAs. This included facilitating baseline ecological and fisheries research, socio economic impact of MPAs on fisheries, and fisheries benefits from MPAs. She has done substantial stakeholder engagement with commercial and recreational fisheries and general stakeholders of proposed MPAs, including writing management plans and budget planning for MPAs. Ane was certified as a Level 3 WIO-COMPAS MPA PRO in 2011, and assessed a Level 1 event in 2014 in South Africa and a Level 2 Event in 2014 in Tanzania.
- Peter Chadwick
Peter has over 20 years of experience in the field of conservation. He specializes in developing sound holistic management systems for conservation areas and developing management strategies for rare and endangered species. He has been the General Manager of De Hoop Nature Reserve and Marine Protected Area. Until June 2013, he worked at WWF SA as the Manager: Integrated Ocean Management. He now runs his own conservation and photographic company- African Conservation Management Services where he focuses his time on achieving conservation and capacity building objectives in South Africa. Peter has exciting new plans for the future including organizing introductory courses in MPA management and certificate courses in MPA Management; running a train the trainers’ course for conservation agencies to be able to run their own introductory MPA management training courses into the future; facilitating the South African MPA Forum; conducting WIO-COMPAS assessments in South Africa; and the development of best practices guidelines for the Human Resource management of MPAs within South African conservation agencies including embedding of WIO-COMPAS into the MPA HR policies. He is a certified WIO-COMPAS Level 3 and Level 2 MPA Professional.
- Mr. Edward Richards,
Edward is a Marine Ranger, Kogelberg Nature Reserve, CapeNature South Africa. He is a certified WIO-COMPAS MPA PRO Level 1 and Level 2. He has worked as a Marine Ranger attached to the Betty’s Bay MPA in South Africa, for the past 10 years. He is currently in his final academic year at the University of South Africa, working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Management. He is WIO-COMPAS Level 1 and Level 2 certified, recently renewing his certification.
- Mr. Allen Cedras
Allan has over 16 years of experience in the field of marine conservation and significant experience in ocean governance specializing in marine spatial planning. With a Master’s degree in Conservation and Rural Development, Allen is a specialist in the management of MPAs and has worked in the Seychelles and Mauritius in this field. Allen was appointed Chief Executive Officer of a new authority – the Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority – in January 2021. He is a certified WIO-COMPAS MPA PRO Level 2, having recently renewed his certification
- Said Shee Mohammed
Said is a marine Law enforcement officer planner with Kenya Wildlife Service, currently based at Mombasa MPA. Said is a PADI Open Water Dive Instructor and EFR Instructor. Said has trained and certified fellow staffs and external students. Said has been working with several NGOs and LMMAs on conservation fragile ecosystem particular Coral Reef, Sea grass meadow and Mangroves. He is also a Forensic Crime Scene Investigator for coral Reef in Kenya. Said has been part of the team that contributed to success of Kisite MPA Blue Park Status. Said has over 25 years of experience in MPA operation and Management. He is selected among few as Strategic Adaptive Management (SAM) champion. Said is a recipient of African Ranger of the year (2018 – issued by Paradise Foundation) and World Ranger of the year (2021 – Issued by IUCN). Said is also a certified WIO-COMPAS MPA PRO Level 1 and Level 2.
- Tiana Rahagalala
Is a marine capacity development specialist working with the Coastal Resources Centre of the University of Rhode Island’s Haytao project; with a special focus on Locally Managed Marine Areas in Madagascar. Her role through Haytao is to provide assistance to stakeholders from the Malagasy government, LMMAs and fishing communities, to overcome problems and develop strategic and technical innovations to potentially secure both conservation and fishery benefits, while ensuring the rights of local fishers and to support supports individual LMMAs to effectively manage areas by equipping them with a capacity development tool that allows them to identify strengths and gaps in management, and request training accordingly. Tiana is a WIO-COMPAS assessor for Levels 1 and 2.