Conservation news 297
and up-to-date science-based education, especially at the postgraduate level. To identify the essential competences that MSc students should acquire, the insights of multiple stakeholders are needed. During 20–24 January 2020 a workshop was dedicated
PLATE 1 Meconopsis smithiana. Photo: Rong Li.
because of its restricted distribution, small population size and the degradation of its habitat, the species should be included in the list of Plant Species with Extremely Small Populations in China (Sun et al., 2019, Trends in Plant Science, 24, 4–6). Our survey and information obtained from interviews with local people indicated that the main threats to this species are its small population size, the high frequency of destruction by grazing, and habitat loss as a result of road construction. Urgent and effective mea- sures need to be taken to protect this species. The Kunming Institute of Botany is now carrying out
studies on the phylogeography of M. smithiana and its gen- etic relationships to other Meconopsis species of the south- ern Hengduan Mountains, to obtain a better understanding of themicroevolution of this species. With the collaboration of the staff of nature reserves, we are planning to collect seeds of M. smithiana for ex situ propagation and potential future restoration of the species in the wild. Using species distribution models we also plan to identify and explore other sites in China where the species could potentially occur.
RONG LI (
orcid.org/0000-0003-0587-8130),MENGYUWANG, JUAN YUE and ZHIYOUWANG Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China E-mail
lirong@mail.kib.ac.cn
Key skills for future aquatic scientists in Latin America: academic capacity building through the CORRIENTE XXI project
Aquatic ecosystems harbour unique biodiversity and pro- vide key ecosystemservices. Conserving and sustainablyman- aging marine and freshwater systems in times of global change requires specific skills that aquatic scientists need to acquire and develop throughout their career. Higher edu- cation institutions have a responsibility to provide relevant
to the identification of a portfolio of competences and learning outcomes for future aquatic scientists in Quito, Ecuador. The workshop was the first scientific meeting for the CORRIENTE XXI project, funded by the European Union, which aims to support innovative education for research-based and sustainable management of marine and freshwater ecosystems. This joint project focuses on curriculum development through international capacity building between Peru, Ecuador, France and Belgium. For this workshop, academics gathered to develop a shared, sys- tematic approach to identify competences for postgradu- ates of existing and planned MSc programmes in aquatic sciences, and to assess the expectations of students, recent graduates, teachers and future employers. The overall objective of the workshop was to share knowledge on portfolios of competences and learning out- comes through training. During the workshop, the six part- ner universities worked towards acquiring the necessary skills to design and analyse surveys and to establish a port- folio of competences, which will be the basis of updated and newMSc programmes. The workshop comprised stake- holder analysis by each higher education institution, dev- elopment of customized surveys for the four stakeholder groups, preparation of data analysis and dissemination, and capacity building on survey methods. These analyses have been distributed amongst the stake-
holders. The findings will be a key input for the first CORRIENTE XXI meeting, in the second half of 2020, and will be the basis for curriculum update and develop- ment in the universities involved in Peru and Ecuador. Overall, the 3-year CORRIENTE XXI project addresses pressing environmental issues by providing research-based academic training, a framework for transboundary cooper- ation between higher education institutions for science- based solutions to shared challenges, and academic cap- acity building for teaching personnel. The project will re- sult in two new MSc programmes in Ecuador and the update of three MSc programmes in both Ecuador and Peru. Activities (workshops, staff training, job-shadowing activities, an integrative conference, an innovative job fair, and a summer school) will train Peruvian and Ecuado- rian academic staff in innovative and integrative skills. CORRIENTE XXI aims to raise the level of the MSc pro- grammes, increase graduate employability, and raise aware- ness of the importance of aquatic sciences and man- agement. This will translate into more effective guidelines for policy and management both nationally and in trans- boundary regions, and improved national and internation- al scientific collaboration.
Oryx, 2020, 54(3), 296–298 © 2020 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605320000095
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