Master of Protected Area Conservation
Master of Protected Area Conservation
Conservation professionals need to be trained in aspects of governance, planning and management in order to ensure the protected area estate effectively conserves nature and natures benefits to people. This course will provide you with the knowledge and skills required by contemporary protected area conservation professionals working in middle or…
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COURSE DESCRIPTION
Conservation professionals need to be trained in aspects of governance, planning and management in order to ensure the protected area estate effectively conserves nature and natures benefits to people.
This course will provide you with the knowledge and skills required by contemporary protected area conservation professionals working in middle or senior governance or management roles. This course covers governance, planning and management practice in government, private and community-based protected areas, as well as broader landscape contexts. Terrestrial, freshwater and marine protected areas are addressed. You will apply skills in governance, planning, and management to address complex conservation problems across landscapes and within protected areas.
The course has been designed to meet international competencies for protected area planners specified by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, with a particular focus on middle and senior governance and management roles. The structure of the degree ensures that graduates have the full range of required skills for protected area planners and managers in senior roles. Experiential learning is facilitated through field components within the core units, which involve practical experience of working world activities in natural environments. Students are offered further opportunity to customize their learning through an elective facilitating exploration of conservation topics in Tasmania as well as a capstone professional placement unit in the final year of study.
Tasmania is the ideal place to undertake a degree focused on protected area governance and management. Within half an hour from the Sandy Bay campus, we access marine, coastal, heathland, wetland, grassland, woodland, dry eucalypt, wet eucalypt, rainforest, subalpine and alpine natural environments, as well as urban nature. The Tasmanian world heritage recognised wilderness is little over an hour’s drive away. Tasmanian nature is so distinctive and important that half the State is in reserves and approximately half the area of these reserves is world heritage. This makes it an imminent destination to study conservation in protected areas. You will be helped in your learning by academic staff with international reputations in their subject areas.
Learning Outcomes
1 Synthesise theory and contemporary knowledge in protected areas and wider conservation fields to define problems and solutions.
2 Develop solutions to a range of complex conservation problems by applying data collection and analysis techniques.
3 Manage the design, documentation and resourcing of solutions in diverse conservation workplaces.
4 Develop and justify your own positions on conservation across landscapes and within protected areas.
Career outcomes:
There are diverse opportunities across government, private and not-for-profit industries. The range of knowledge and skills suit work in any landscape with natural values, including highly urbanised environments, agricultural landscapes as well as areas protected for recreation and conservation.
These include eco-tourism, natural area management, protection and interpretation, emergency management and planning, and natural resource management. Jobs will generally be advertised under the following titles:
Environmental planner
Environmental manager
Environmental scientist
Eco-tourism operator/manager
Natural resource officer/manager
Park ranger/manager
Conservation manager
Urban services manager
Environmental consultant
Ecologist
REQUIREMENTS
Admission to most postgraduate coursework courses at the University of Tasmania require qualifications equivalent to an Australian bachelor degree.
Candidates for the Master of Protected Area Conservation shall be qualified for entry if they hold a bachelor degree in any discipline at the University of Tasmania or hold other tertiary qualification(s) deemed by the College to be equivalent for this purpose.
IELTS (Academic) 6.5 (no individual band less than 6.0)
TOEFL (iBT) 88 (no skill below: Reading 16; Listening 16; Speaking 18; Writing 22)
PTE Academic 58 with no score lower than 50
English for Academic Purposes 2 – 65% (no individual score less than 60%)
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
The University of Tasmania was officially founded on 1st January 1890 and is located at Sandy Bay, Tasmania. In addition to the main campus at Sandy Bay, it also operates out of the Newnham Campus and the Cradle Coast Campus. The most popular courses offered are the environmental studies that include wilderness management, marine sciences and indigenous studies in Tasmanian literature. Other unconventional courses include agriculture development, studies on the community and population and ocean study programs. The university also comprises of a Music Conservatorium, Art school and a School of Clinical studies.
