CEFAS22-20 Blue Belt financial training for UK Overseas Territories

Since 2016, the Blue Belt Programme has been working with UK Overseas Territories (OTs) to enhance protection and sustainable management across 4 million square kilometres of important marine environment. Sustainable finance solutions for marine management and conservation of marine resources are increasingly becoming important considerations and part of new knowledge base to support the UKOTs daily and annual work to sustainably manage their current funds and to diversify into funding streams.

The opportunity to acquire new management and financial training has been made possible from the 'sustainable finance' workstream of the Blue Belt programme, to ensure the UKOTs are best placed to manage, protect and administer their current Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The Contractor will create a bespoke financial training work packages to help UKOTs. This work will help to sustainably manage their current MPAs and advance on new and current marine conservation projects. The Customer, as one of the Blue Belt delivery partners, require the Contractor to deliver the following:

1. The Contractor will discuss, scope and deliver a seminar to the UKOTs to raise awareness and promote effective knowledge transfer on the current financial strategies and opportunities available to support conservation and management of MPAs.
2. The Contactor will discuss, scope and deliver a bespoke financial training package for the Government of Tristan da Cunha.

The training will be delivered for one OT only initially (Tristan da Cunha) as a pilot study and will be delivered virtually. The Contractor will also scope the option to deliver face-to-face training to the relevant UKOT representatives later this year (2022). Face-to-face training will be delivered in the UK by the the Contractor. Location and venue to be agreed with the Customer, costs for the venue will be managed by the Customer (if required).

Options to extend the training to more OTs will be discussed with the Customer during the delivery of the current listed deliverables.

3. The Contractor will develop a collaborative position paper alongside Blue Belt delivery partners. The paper will take the form of an opinion document, listing the current financial mechanisms available to UKOTs to support management and conservations of MPAs.