MAINTAIN CERTIFICATION

MPA PRO Certification Renewal Overview

Please read the instructions below. MPA PROs who are ready to submit their documents can proceed to the form upload page.

Instructions

All certified MPA professionals – titled MPA PROs – must renew their certification every five years. They need to show evidence of continued employment related to MPAs for most of the past five years and professional growth. The table below summarizes the tasks required to achieve certification renewal. Individuals who are certified at more than one level must select one of the certification levels which best matches their current employment responsibilities and follow all renewal requirements.load page.

Submit once every 5 years	Level 1: Field Operations MPA PRO	Level 2: Site Management MPA PRO	Level 3: Policy and Planning MPA PRO
Self-assessment of competences for respective Level of certification	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Describe the impact of your own activities following certification on workplace (MPA, suite of MPAs, or strategic planning for MPAs)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Show evidence of growth in weakest competence area(s) as identified in original transcript	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Produce a case study following the WIO-COMPAS format	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Feedback by Supervisor on MPA PRO’s professional development	★★★★★	★★★★★	☆☆☆☆☆

Explanation of Certification Renewal Tasks

WIO-COMPAS Secretariat will notify all MPA PROs at least four months in advance of the renewal process and appropriate documents that should be used to complete the renewal tasks.

Five Year Certification Renewal Tasks

Self-Assessment of Competences

MPA PROs must conduct their own self-assessment of their competencies in relation to their respective Levels (L1, L2 or L3) and submit the results to the Secretariat. Guidance on how much detail is required will be sent to the MPA PRO. The self-assessment is to encourage MPA PROs to continually self-assess their skills and areas for development.

The Secretariat has a Self-Assessment Checklist form that you can download, fill out, then upload again.

Impact Report

MPA PROs must write an impact report that briefly describes how their activities after achieving certification have contributed to impacts in the workplace. While it takes a team to achieve meaningful impact we would still like to read about individual contributions.

This report must be written on the following webpage when you start the submission process. You can’t upload a document for this task.

Professional Growth Evidence

MPA PROs must show evidence of their professional growth over the past five years with a focus on their weakest competence areas – which can be found in each MPA PRO’s transcripts which provide the scores per competence area. Every MPA PRO is given professional development guidance upon the completion of their assessment. MPA PROs should refer to these documents to guide their response. MPA PROs should list the activities and describe how they have responded to professional development advice and contributed to professional growth.

Growth can be achieved through gaining new experience such as exchanges or volunteering for short assignments – to broaden professional capacity. Level 3 Policy and Planning MPA PROs should be attending conferences or similar events as evidence of professional development.

One example of professional growth is to successfully complete at least one continuing education course and/or training activity linked to improving their professional performance at MPAs. These are “refresher” courses meant to keep professionals current on the coastal management and marine protected area management profession and its practice, with topics shaped by myriad influences such as the state of climate change, international conventions, new tools and techniques being used in the practice, and new experiences learned from the ongoing practice of integrated coastal management (ICM) in coastal countries around the world.

This professional growth evidence must be written on the following webpage when you start the submission process. You can’t upload a document for this task.

Case Study

To encourage reflection and sharing across our MPA PRO network all MPA PROs need to produce a brief Case Study of no more than two pages that discusses a management issue (problem or opportunity) the MPA PRO was involved in over the past five years, summary of strategy options, actions taken and reflections from the experience. WIO-COMPAS will share these across the WIO-COMPAS network to promote the profession.

You will need to upload a document – pdf or WORD document format on the next webpage when you start the submission process.

Feedback by Supervisor for MPA PROs Levels 1 & 2

Level 1 Marine Field Operations and Level 2 Site Management MPA PROs must have their supervisors confirm the accuracy of the materials being submitted by the MPA PRO. A form will be provided for the supervisor to sign.

You will need to upload a document – pdf or WORD document format on the next webpage when you start the submission process

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