Masters (Coursework)
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.
Candidates for the Master of Protected Area Governance and Management 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.
Admission to most postgraduate coursework courses at the University of Tasmania require qualifications equivalent to an Australian bachelor degree. Applicants must achieve the required grade in their qualifying studies, meet any prerequisite subjects, and meet English language requirements to be eligible for an offer.
English Language Requirements
For students who do not meet the English Language Requirement through citizenship or prior studies in English in an approved country, evidence of an approved English language test completed within the last 2 years must be provided. See the English Language Requirements page for more information.
English Language Requirements are: IELTS (Academic) 6.5 (no individual band less than 6.0)
Course Specific Requirements
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. International applicants who are nationals of and currently reside in a country where English is not the official language require an IELTS of 6.5 with no individual band less than 6.0 or equivalent.
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:
The course is primarily compulsory units, with year two offering a choice in units to Explore Conservation In Tasmania. The year two elective schedule features a range of place based Tasmanian learning experiences to explore topics such as Tourism, Cultural Heritage, Marine and Antarctic Environments, and Environmental GIS.
If a student meets the requirements for entry into our independent research stream, then the units KGA742 Research Thesis A and KGA743 Research Thesis B will replace KGA703 Professional Research Methods and KGA704 Professional Research Practice. The independent research stream requires a coursework average of 75% or over in the first year of the Master of Protected Area Conservation (full-time equivalent) and approval of a research topic from both a supervisor and the Unit Co-ordinator.
If you are starting in 2023 you can find your course planner here - this helps you plan what units to enrol in and when.
Students in this course may be eligible for a reduction in the volume of learning of: