A Training Workshop on “Strategies and Approaches for Sustainable Forest Management in a Changing Climate” was successfully launched in Kunming, China during 1-12 July 2013, which was the fifth one under the theme of Forest Resource Management. Targeting at Asia-Pacific developing economies which are lack of technical measures and applications to mitigate climate change in the forest sector, the workshop brought together fifteen technical officers and practitioners involved in forest inventory from twelve economies in the Asia-Pacific Region (Bangladesh, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia,  Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Peru and Thailand). The workshop aimed to strengthen participants’ capability and knowledge of sites selection, data collection, modeling and forest-based software application in addressing climate change.

During the six-day indoor training sessions and the four-day field trip, thematic lectures were delivered by resource persons from the Faculty of Forestry of the University of British Columbia, covering a wide range of topics related to the climate change, including methodologies and approaches of data collection and biomass analysis, forecast model application and forest adaptation in the Asia-Pacific region. The workshop also provided several decision-making methods for participants to conduct forest adaptation to climate change in their own domestic situation. Participants shared their experiences on sustainable forest management and forest adaptation in a changing climate during the group discussion. They also raised emerging challenges and difficulties and were enlightened by insightful suggestions from the resource persons. Through the workshop, a network connecting regional forestry and technical officers was built, which will help facilitate communication and cooperation in this regard.

Since 2009, nine thematic training workshops have been sponsored by APFNet as a major activity under the capacity building pillar. This training workshop was organized by APFNet Kunming Training Center (APFNet-KTC), which was established in November 2012.