Durrell Endangered Species Management Graduate Certificate (DESMAN)
Our flagship award winning course, validated by the University of Kent. This 12-week residential course is designed to equip conservation professionals with a complete range of skills to maximise their effectiveness at managing or participating in conservation projects. You will learn the latest theory and practice of endangered species recovery, and gain a wide variety of skills in facilitation, management, and leadership. As a validated course the DESMAN involves a considerable workload with multiple points of assessment.
Learn more
Endangered Species Recovery
A unique, specially designed course, delivered by world-renowned experts and scientists in the field of Endangered Species Recovery (ESR). This five-day, online interactive learning experience introduces the issues and practical skills involved in saving threatened species from extinction. You will develop a critical understanding of biodiversity conservation, the issues it raises and how they may be addressed, as well as practical research skills to inform conservation action.
Learn more
Leadership Development for Conservation Practitioners
Run in collaboration with Fauna & Flora, you will learn how to develop your understanding of, and the practical skills required, to be a more effective conservation leader. This nine-week course will guide you to understand the principles of leadership and help you to explore your own personality, strengths, and potential strengths, so you may evolve an authentic leadership style that is uniquely yours.
Learn more
Professional Development Training for Conservation Practitioners – Mauritius
This training programme is designed to strengthen and expand your skills and knowledge in key areas essential for effective conservation. Designed to support professional growth, the programme will equip you with the tools and expertise needed to address conservation challenges more effectively and increase your impact on the ground. Full sponsorship is available (subject to requirements).
Learn more
Facilitation and Communication Skills
This five-day course is designed to develop the skills needed to facilitate meetings within your own organisation or workshops involving multiple stakeholders with multiple and potentially conflicting interests. This course is aimed at people working or planning to work in zoos or conservation organisations who wish to develop their facilitation skills. It is also relevant to other professionals or graduate level students who wish to develop their communication, facilitation and management skills.
Learn more
Planning and Managing Conservation Projects – Conservation Standards
Learn how to plan and manage effective conservation projects using Conservation Standards. This interactive and engaging course will develop your skills in adaptive management using real-life case studies from Durrell, and provide you with tools and skills that can be applied to all types of conservation action. This course is open to all persons and organisations interested in improving the practice of conservation, both internally within their organisations and externally across the global conservation community.
Learn more
GIS Skills for Conservation
In this course we use QGIS, an open-source programme, to address questions in ecology, learning how species, habitats and landscapes can be described, analysed, and graphically represented. Whether identifying biodiversity hotspots, delineating the most inclusive protected area network, understanding how species interact with features of the environment, or measuring the extent of habitat loss, conservationists need to understand how organisms are distributed across landscapes and are impacted at different spatial scales. GIS is a powerful computing tool that can practically help you - making it an invaluable skill to guide conservation management decisions.
Learn moreDurrell Endangered Species Management Graduate Certificate (DESMAN)
Course content
This 12-week residential course is designed to equip conservation professionals with a complete range of skills to maximise their effectiveness at managing or participating in conservation projects. You will learn the latest theory and practice of endangered species recovery, and gain a wide variety of skills in facilitation, management, and leadership. As a validated course the DESMAN involves a considerable workload with multiple points of assessment.
During the course you will gain practical and theoretical knowledge in:
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biodiversity and drivers of species decline
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conservation planning and priority setting
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the role of zoos and captive breeding
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principles of animal husbandry
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conservation medicine and wildlife disease
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small population biology and genetics
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in-situ conservation techniques
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management and leadership skills
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facilitation and team skills
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GIS for conservation managers
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captive and field research skills
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education and community conservation
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fundraising and financial management
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population monitoring techniques
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field sample collection
Residential (in-person) format
The course is based at the Durrell Conservation Academy, at the headquarters of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in Jersey, British Channel Islands. We have purpose-built learning facilities including a Lecture Theatre, a Library containing over 11,000 volumes and subscriptions to over 60 journals and a Computer Lab located in the grounds of Jersey Zoo the Jersey Zoo animal collection providing the perfect opportunity to gain first-hand experience of our animal, veterinary and education departments. Participants stay in our on-site hostel facilitating an accessible learning experience whilst maintaining freedom to explore the beautiful island of Jersey in their downtime.
How to apply
For information regarding course fees and costs please read the course brochure. We have a limited number of partial scholarships available for this course. Further information about these is provided here, in the brochure below, and during the selection process. To apply please email academy@durrell.org to request an application form.
Still not sure? Read the course brochures for an in-depth look into the course syllabus, learning objectives, and the staff who will be teaching you. For further enquiries email academy@durrell.org.
"The course changed my life, not only professionally but also personally."
DESMAN course participant.
"I know the course will definitely have a positive impact on my professional career. I updated my LinkedIn profile, highlighting my skills in management & leadership in biodiversity conservation and I have already received a request to send my CV for a potential job."
DESMAN course participant.
Endangered Species Recovery
Course content
A unique, specially designed course, delivered by world-renowned experts and scientists in the field of Endangered Species Recovery (ESR). This five-day, online interactive learning experience introduces the issues and practical skills involved in saving threatened species from extinction. You will develop a critical understanding of biodiversity conservation, the issues it raises and how they may be addressed, as well as practical research skills to inform conservation action.
Durrell has an extensive history of leading the conservation of highly threatened species, through research and breeding programmes at our headquarters, and in our overseas field conservation programmes.
During the week you will gain knowledge and skills in:
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The value and threats to biodiversity
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Small population biology
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Current approaches and recent progression in endangered species management
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Planning species and ecosystem recovery programmes
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The importance of blending captive species management and in-situ conservation
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The multi-disciplinary requirements of successful ESRs, and requiring action through education and community conservation, fundraising and policy.
Online format
The course runs full time, delivering over 30 hours of live content across a continuous five days with additional preparation involvement required prior to the course. Therefore, participants need to be able to dedicate a full working week to meaningfully participate. Course materials include live, expert-led lectures, group discussions, activities, and individual work. Durrell case studies will help illustrate the teaching content and provide real life scenarios of global field programmes and captive breeding facilities at Jersey Zoo. Training staff at Durrell Conservation Academy will offer 1-2-1 support throughout. You will be given registered access to our online learning platform for pre-course material, additional resources including reading lists, discussion forums and advice for on-going training.
How to apply
The course fee is £450 with offers for Durrell alumni. Subject to interest, this course may run multiple times. Every run of a course will have a set start date. If you cannot attend, please enquire for other dates. To book a place please contact academy@durrell.org for an application form.
Still not sure? Read the course brochures for an in-depth look into the course syllabus, learning objectives, and the staff who will be teaching you. For further enquiries email academy@durrell.org.
"Fantastic week. Fantastic organisation."
ESR Course Participant
"Had an amazing week learning so much from skilled professionals working within Durrell conservation projects! Their lectures were invaluable for focusing on my future career and I would highly recommend to anyone interested in taking a course or internship with them!"
ESR Course Participant
Leadership Development for Conservation Practitioners
Course content
Run in collaboration with Fauna & Flora, you will learn how to develop your understanding of, and the practical skills required, to be a more effective conservation leader. This nine-week course will guide you to understand the principles of leadership and help you to explore your own personality, strengths, and potential strengths, so you may evolve an authentic leadership style that is uniquely yours. Drawing upon the theory and practice of leadership, we will use case studies, conversations with experts, and your own experience, to see how this applies to the context of wildlife conservation projects. Our training will equip you with the tools to navigate challenges and develop the critical leadership skills required to influence and guide others, giving you the confidence to expand your capabilities and maximise your conservation impact.
During the course you will learn and reflect upon the following skills:
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The value of self-awareness and reflection
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Theory and principles of leadership practice
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Situational leadership
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Understanding and assessing organisational culture to inform leadership approaches
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Effective leadership for team management
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Learning from failure in conservation
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Managing interpersonal relations
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Negotiation skills, communicating and influencing
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Utilising your leadership skills to develop your career
Online format
The online course includes 50 hours of self-paced learning spread over nine weeks. This will be split into 5hrs self learning/week, plus five 2hr expert-led live sessions. Live sessions will be offered at different times, to allow for different time zones (subject to demand).
You will be given registered access to our online learning management platform for the course syllabus. Here you will be able to track your academic progress and communicate with fellow students and course leaders using forums and discussion groups. Content will be delivered through a blend of formats, including reading, interactive quizzes, videos and guided research. The live and interactive sessions will run each week via zoom. These will involve discussions and activities designed to enhance your learning experience.
How to apply
The course fee is £450 with offers for early bird applications and Durrell alumni. Our next course will run Summer/Autumn 2026. To book a place please contact academy@durrell.org for an application form.
Still not sure? Read the course brochures for an in-depth look into the course syllabus, learning objectives, and the staff who will be teaching you. For further enquiries email academy@durrell.org.
"My increased confidence to be a leader, and the inspiration and motivation that I found, will help me to set up innovative and effective conservation action".
Course participant, 2022
Professional Development Training for Conservation Practitioners – Mauritius
Course content
This training programme is designed to strengthen and expand your skills and knowledge in key areas essential for effective conservation. Designed to support professional growth, the programme will equip you with the tools and expertise needed to address conservation challenges more effectively and increase your impact on the ground. Full sponsorship is available (subject to requirements).
This comprehensive course will cover key areas including:
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Survey techniques for assessing population abundance and monitoring.
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Forest restoration and threatened plant species recovery including project design, planning and monitoring
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Statistical analysis using programme R to inform and enhance conservation efforts
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Facilitation and communication skills for effective team management and stakeholder engagement
Residential (in-person) format
This course is run at Durrell Conservation Training Headquarters in Mauritius. Teaching will be delivered by Durrell's own conservation specialists in Island Restoration, Conservation Science, Conservation Education and Outreach all with first hand experience in successfully restoring island ecosystems and building regional conservation capacity. Participants stay in shared accommodation for the duration of the course.
How to apply
Please note this course is designed for mid-career conservation practitioners from the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) region, particularly those based Madagascar, Mauritius, Rodrigues, Seychelles, Comoros and Réunion. These islands are home to numerous endemic species and unique plant communities, and they face similar conservation challenges, making targeted and collaborative efforts essential. See brochure for full requirements.
Training is offered free of charge for Mauritian participants. Full scholarships are available for participants from Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) covering course fees, return international flights, shared accommodation, and inland transport. Please note: visa costs and travel insurance are NOT included.
To book a place please send you CV and covering letter to recruitmentmauritius@durrell.org
Still not sure? Read our course brochures for an in-depth look into the course syllabus, learning objectives, and the staff who will be teaching you. For enquiries please contact us on +230 6060992 or email teesha.baboorun@durrell.org or martine.goder@durrell.org.
Facilitation and Communication Skills
Course content
This five-day course is designed to develop the skills needed to facilitate meetings within your own organisation or workshops involving multiple stakeholders with multiple and potentially conflicting interests. This course is aimed at people working or planning to work in zoos or conservation organisations who wish to develop their facilitation skills. It is also relevant to other professionals or graduate level students who wish to develop their communication, facilitation and management skills. The training you receive will give you the confidence to organise and conduct your own meetings and workshops tackling complex and contentious issues. You will develop links with experienced facilitators who will help you provide feedback to individuals to improve relationships; and help you to plan effective workshops and meetings.
During the course you will learn and practice essential workshop facilitation skills, including:
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Decision making
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Conflict management
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Cross-cultural sensitivity
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Group dynamics
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Active listening
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Consensus building
In-person format
The course will be based at the Durrell Conservation Academy at Durrell’s headquarters in Jersey. Teaching will be delivered by Durrell’s own conservation specialists. Course format involves lectures, case studies and significant amounts of time to practice the facilitation skills discussed within a small group setting. Participants will be learning alongside students from our flagship DESMAN course guaranteeing networking opportunities with a range of international conservation practitioners.
How to apply
The course fee is £575 with offers for Durrell alumni, the fee is inclusive of all course materials and unlimited entry to Jersey Zoo during the course. Dependent on availability, optional full board accommodation may be available in our on-site hostel for £70 per person per night. Optional lunches are available for non-residents at £10 per person per day.
To book a place please contact academy@durrell.org for an application form.
Still not sure? Read the course brochures for an in-depth look into the course syllabus, learning objectives, and the staff who will be teaching you. For further enquiries email academy@durrell.org.
Planning and Managing Conservation Projects – Conservation Standards
Course content
Learn how to plan and manage effective conservation projects using Conservation Standards. This interactive and engaging course will develop your skills in adaptive management using real-life case studies from Durrell, and provide you with tools and skills that can be applied to all types of conservation action. This course is open to all persons and organisations interested in improving the practice of conservation, both internally within their organisations and externally across the global conservation community. This includes practitioners, researchers, students, consultants, policy makers, funders, and government officials. We especially encourage conservation practitioners based in areas of high biodiversity value to participate in this course. The skills and tools we will cover are applicable to all conservation interventions at all scales. Using examples from Durrell’s project portfolio, the course provides an introduction to the practical implementation of conservation actions; an overview of the project planning cycle and project management; general principles that can be applied to planning all forms of conservation action (e.g. projects, species action plans and protected area management plans); and the importance of monitoring and evaluation and exploring the factors that can lead to the success or failure of projects.
At the end of the course, participants will be able to apply the Conservation Standards to plan and adaptively manage your own projects. This includes being able to:
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Define the scope and vision of your project, and identify and assess the conservation targets (species and ecosystems of interest)
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Assess the current situation, including identifying direct threats to targets and the primary drivers, and human wellbeing benefits provided through ecosystem services
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Identify and prioritise conservation strategies
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Develop and test theories of change for chosen conservation strategies and develop a monitoring plan that enables you to test your assumptions and measure your impact
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Develop a strategy-oriented work plan and budget
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Use your project results to reflect, learn, and adapt your conservation plan to ensure you are being effective
In-person format
This is an in-person course run in Jersey, over five full days (Monday to Friday). The course will offer a mix of theory, practice, reflection, and peer review. Sessions will be fully facilitated by trained coaches. This course is interactive and engaging, allowing participants to put what they have learnt into practice though breakout group exercises. Participants will be learning alongside students from our flagship DESMAN course guaranteeing networking opportunities with a range of international conservation practitioners.
How to apply
The course fee is £575 with offers for Durrell alumni, the fee is inclusive of all course materials and unlimited entry to Jersey Zoo during the course. Dependent on availability, optional full board accommodation may be available in our on-site hostel for £70 per person per night. Optional lunches are available for non-residents at £10 per person per day.
To book a place please contact academy@durrell.org for an application form.
Still not sure? Read the course brochures for an in-depth look into the course syllabus, learning objectives, and the staff who will be teaching you. For further enquiries email academy@durrell.org.
GIS Skills for Conservation
Course content
In this course we use QGIS, an open-source programme, to address questions in ecology, learning how species, habitats and landscapes can be described, analysed, and graphically represented. Whether identifying biodiversity hotspots, delineating the most inclusive protected area network, understanding how species interact with features of the environment, or measuring the extent of habitat loss, conservationists need to understand how organisms are distributed across landscapes and are impacted at different spatial scales. GIS is a powerful computing tool that can practically help you - making it an invaluable skill to guide conservation management decisions. Suitable for beginners, or those who wish to refresh their knowledge, this introductory course progresses at a pace to ensure you get to grips with the basic use of QGIS and feel successful. Although the content is taught within the framework of environmental conservation, the basic principles mean this is suitable to anyone considering the use of GIS in business or science. No prior knowledge of GIS is required, but participants should be comfortable working with computers, managing files and installing software. Not essential to bring a laptop but advantageous.
Predominantly computer based, we work both individually and as a group to progress through a series of lectures and practical workshops to slowly build upon your skill set. You will cover the following:
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How GIS can be used as an analytical tool to represent real-world spatial relationships.
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Data to be entered into a GIS can be derived from traditional field work, but context and depth can be added through remotely sensed data, or accessing freely available data from research institutes and citizen science. Whatever the source, GIS data can be manipulated to provide in-depth understanding of the interactions between organisms and different elements of their environments which works as an excellent aid in supporting conservation planning.
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GIS can also allow us to derive information (e.g. distance between features, estimate sea floor depth), that can be exported for use in standard statistical analysis and modelling techniques.
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Advances in GIS and satellite imagery allow research to be conducted very efficiently and cheaply, often over previously unachievable scales, and in areas inaccessible by conventional methods.
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Given the power of GIS to underpin conservation action, it is essential that practitioners understand the ways in which GIS can support the development of conservation solutions, the opportunities it provides as well as its limitations.
In-person format
This is an in-person course run in Jersey, over five full days (Monday to Friday). The course will offer a mix of theory, practice, reflection, and peer review. Sessions will be fully facilitated by trained coaches. This course is interactive and engaging, allowing participants to put what they have learnt into practice though breakout group exercises. Participants will be learning alongside students from our flagship DESMAN course guaranteeing networking opportunities with a range of international conservation practitioners.
How to apply
The course fee is £575 with offers for Durrell alumni, the fee is inclusive of all course materials and unlimited entry to Jersey Zoo during the course. Dependent on availability, optional full board accommodation may be available in our on-site hostel for £70 per person per night. Optional lunches are available for non-residents at £10 per person per day.
To book a place please contact academy@durrell.org for an application form.
Still not sure? Read the course brochures for an in-depth look into the course syllabus, learning objectives, and the staff who will be teaching you. For further enquiries email academy@durrell.org.