In early 2022, the SPACES project updated the capacity needs assessment (CNA) regarding environmental education and commu­nication (EEC) for protected areas (PAs) among stake­holders. The initial CNA was conducted in early 2020. This will be the basis for an update of the 10-step National EEC Strategy (EECS), first developed in mid 2020.

The SPACES team asked the questions outlined below to five stakeholder groups: 1-Donors & Government, 2-NGOs & Media, 3-Universities & Research, and Protected Area Staff in 4-GTPA and KKSPA, 5-the Western PA Cluster near Khovd

• What are the top 3 problems you are facing in protected areas, and which target groups are most relevant for these problems?
• What do you want the most relevant target groups to know, feel and do in order to solve the top 3 problems you identified?
• Which media and communication channels are most appropriate to reach the most relevant target groups in relation with the top 3 problems?

and documented responses under three JobAids: 1-Problems & Target Groups, 2-Problems/Target Groups & Communication Objectives, and 3-Prob­lems/Target Groups & Media/Communication Channels.

Major conclusions

Major conclusions from the CNA 2022 and a comparison with CNA 2020 results can be summarized as follows:

• Even more so than in 2020, stakeholders reported the lack of policy support related to law enforcement, finance, human resources, and particularly research & studies on biodiversity, climate change, ecosystems, etc.
• As in 2020, the lack of public awareness on PAs was again the other most mentioned problem.
• ‘Overgrazing’ and ‘excessive tourism’ were the No 3 + 4 problems in 2020 as well as 2022, mentioned especially by PA staff in the Western Cluster and universities.
• As the stakeholder group 3-Universities & Research was new in 2022, a lot more responses under Problem 1- Lack of policy support referred to the dire need for more and better research and studies. More often than in 2020, this concerns was shared by the other stakeholder groups, if only less specific.
• Even more so than in 2020, stakeholders identified political decision makers at all levels of government – in particular the cabinet and parliament, MNET and DPAM – as target groups for environmental education and communication. ‘Youth’ ran second, ‘local residents’, especially herders, third, and ‘tour operators’ fourth in 2020. This was basically confirmed in 2022 with ‘locals’ even more so than ‘youth’ and ‘PA visitors/tourists’ instead of ‘tour operators’, who however may remain important intermediaries to reach out to PA visitors.
• In the CNA 2020 and 2022, no single medium, message or communication objective is effective for all purposes or target groups. Therefore, different media, messages or communication objectives should complement and reinforce each other. Each one has a unique characteristic or particular advantage that is useful to accomplish a specific purpose that needs to be defined per problem and target group.

EECS Update – An Outlook

The CNA results have been integrated in an updated draft of National EECS 2022, which will be discussed in a stakeholder workshop later in 2022. This will help GIZ SPACES, the Ministry of Environment and other stakeholders determine priorities for a future EECS Action Plan 2022-2023.