A new massive online open course (MOOC) developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and partners is set to support the sustainable management of wetlands and waterbirds in the Sahel and North Africa.
The new course, ‘Identifying and counting waterbirds in North Africa and the Sahel – how and why?’, provides training in essential skills for international waterbird monitoring and insights into the ecological challenges facing wetland habitats.
It was produced by the RESSOURCE+ Project as part of the FAO-led Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme, and was designed in collaboration with Tour du Valat and the French Biodiversity Agency.
A MOOC is a free online course that offers unlimited participation and is open to everyone, although this new course targets in particular French-speaking participants from North African and Sahelian countries.
“By strengthening the national and local capacities in the participating countries, this massive online open course will foster sustainable wetland management and biodiversity conservation,” said Zhimin Wu, Director of FAO’s Forestry Division.
Skills for waterbird monitoring
Registration is now open until 1 December 2025 for the first session of the course.
Participants will learn how to access networks of waterbird observers, collect and interpret data, and identify and count around 210 waterbird species in North Africa and the Sahel region.
The course provides 40 hours of online training, structured into six modules and featuring 35 animated sequences, 10 video interviews with experts, over 5 000 photos and video clips of birds, and 210 factsheets designed to facilitate species identification, along with numerous quizzes, tests and further learning resources.
It should take roughly six weeks to complete the training, which is self-paced, enabling participants to fit the course around their schedules. Participants are eligible for certification provided they successfully complete the course within three months.
During the first six weeks, the course designers will be on call to respond to participants’ questions through the chat function. Additional MOOC sessions are planned for 2026 and beyond.
The RESSOURCE+ Project
The RESSOURCE+ Project supports governments and communities in conserving wetlands and waterbirds in Sahelian countries. The project aims to promote waterbird monitoring, sustainable levels of hunting and effective wetland conservation policies in the Sahel. It is co-funded by the French Facility for Global Environment and the European Union through the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme.
The RESSOURCE+ Project is led by FAO with support from technical partners recognized for their expertise, in collaboration with national authorities, wildlife institutions, NGOs and local communities.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Regional Office for Africa.
