On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of APFNet and in line with its Five-Year Strategic Plan of APFNet Training Programme, the Workshop on Forestry and Rural Livelihood Development was successfully concluded in the Center for International Exchange and Cooperation at Southwest Forestry University (SWFU) on 13th November, 2018.
The workshop was structured by four interlinked components, these including keynote lectures, presentations by participants, group work and discussion and field trip. Each component provides a good learning opportunity to share knowledge and experience among resource persons and participants.
A total of 10 keynote lectures were given by five resource persons, which provided a holistic picture of forestry contribution to rural livelihoods. In supplement with lectures, two panel discussions focused on SWOT analysis on poverty reduction through forestry and Indigenous knowledge and livelihood of forest dependent people. Besides, 14 presentations by participants provided a number of case studies based on different specific-economy contexts, which help understand how the actual performance of forestry-based livelihood improvement on the ground. Moreover, group work on preparation of policy brief is designed as one of key components of the Workshop, which emphasis on strengthening technical skills of forestry officials.
On 9 to 12 November, the field trip was conducted in Pu’er City of Yunnan Province. Workshop participants visited numerous field sites, which help grab the-first-hand information of how the principle of sustainable forest management can be accommodated to alleviate poverty of local communities and increase their family income and incentives of forest conservation. Also, with technical supports from government and research institute and private enterprises, there is a great contribution to the value adding of forest products.
Figure 4: Workshop participant met with local forest officials in Puer City
The closing ceremony was commenced at SWFU on 13th November, 2018. The workshop was highly appreciated by workshop participants and successfully concluded.
