A short course Training for forestry decision makers from the Greater Mekong Subregion: Third Executive Forest Policy Short Course took place in Bangkok, 8-19 March, 2010, aiming at providing up-to-date information and transferring practical skills to forestry professionals from the Greater Mekong Subregion. Participants were introduced to the basic elements of the forest policy cycle, and were trained to effectively communicate forestry issues and present decisions. Different economic tools for analyzing problems and formulating informed decisions were also presented, concentrating on discussing current “hot issues” including climate change, ownership and resource rights, poverty alleviation through forestry, forest governance, and constraint in financing sustainable forest management.

The short course is financially supported by the one-year cooperative project “Making forestry work for the poor: Adapting forest policies to poverty alleviation strategies in Asia and the Pacific”, jointly launched by the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)in early 2010, focusing on assisting forestry agencies in strategic planning and developing means to reduce poverty through sustainable forest management and forest rehabilitation for the Asia Pacific. The main findings and feedback concerning the curriculum will provide data support to new editions of the courses in this series.