The Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Environment will promote more editions of the Natural Park Guide Courses on the islands of Faial and Pico with the aim of enhance the knowledge on protected areas and acknowledge the services provided by the professionals that guide groups of tourists throughout these areas.

The course will certify professionals to accompany and guide groups of people to protected areas , moving forward with efforts that have been developed to improve the quality of the services provided by Regional Natural Parks. It also includes a component of  environmental and cultural interpretation of the surrounding landscape.

This initiative is the result of a partnership between the Regional Directorate for the Environment and Azores Tourism with the collaboration of the Chamber of Commerce of Angra do Heroísmo. It will begin on February on the island of Faial and on February 3 on the island of Pico, followed by similar courses to be held in other Island Natural Parks.

The course covers several areas, including communication, first aid and rescue techniques, knowledge on natural, historical and cultural heritage, tourism concepts and field guidance.

Moreover, this initiative is intended to improve the qualification of the human resources of regional active tourism companies for the development of sustainable nature tourism.

These courses, which have a duration of 117 hours, are approved by the Regional Directorate for Employment and Vocational Training. They are intended to certify professionals to accompany and guide groups of people visiting natural parks and are targeted to people who wish to carry out this activity in protected areas.

The Government will also promote courses for the guidance of groups to Pico Mountain and Caldeira on Faial Island.
The guide course for the Caldeira starts on February 9 and has a duration of 39 hours, while the guide course for Pico Mountain starts on February 19 and has a duration of 48 hours.

If the vacancy limit is exceeded, participants will be selected; priority status will be awarded to people who work in tourism companies or who are establishing a company.

These courses are also targeted to people working in rural tourism, who are interested in providing more services to their target customers.

Those who are interested may obtain further information on the course and registration by mobile number 910 021 584 or at the electronic address http://parquesnaturais.azores.gov.pt/pt/. Registrations can be made until Tuesday, January 26.