IUFRO-SPDC Pre-Congress Training Workshops 2019
within the framework of the XXV IUFRO World Congress
Curitiba, Brazil
Venue: Alta Reggia Plaza Hotel, Curitiba, Brazil
Date of Workshops: 26 - 28 September 2019
In the week prior to the XXV IUFRO World Congress four TRAINING WORKSHOPS on
(I) Scientific Methods in Forest Research;
(II) Systematic Reviews in Forest Science;
(III) Implementing Forest Landscape Restoration in Africa and Asia; and
(IV) Implementing Forest Landscape Restoration in Latin America took place in parallel sessions.
Training Workshop I - SCIENTIFIC METHODS IN FOREST RESEARCH
| Trainers & Resource Persons: | Download the Workshop Programme |
The three-day workshop on Research Methods in Forestry focused on the components of the research process: Problem Identification, Question Generation, Hypotheses, and Methods. We used the Gowin’s “Vee” to structure our approach and a series of lectures and examples to guide participants through the process of developing their own “Vee”. It essentially involved three stages: Stage 1 is on the real system under study -- everything is a system – with composition, structure, and environment. Stage 2 begins when it is recognized that everything in the system composition has properties that we attempt to represent using constructs – either a concept or a proposition or a theory. This stage ends when we have a testable statement / claim about nature. Stage 3 begins when we identify or develop methods of testing the claim about nature. Participants in this workshop learned about an approach to research study plan preparation that is simple, straight forward, and comprehensive. Each student came with a research project or idea and each student left with a completed Vee to guide their work forward. In addition to learning how to structure a research problem we also covered basic sampling strategies, statistical inference, and ethics in science.
Please visit the special training resources website by John Kershaw: http://ifmlab.for.unb.ca/people/kershaw/Courses/Research_Methods/
Training Workshop II - SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS IN FOREST SCIENCE
| Trainers and Resource Persons: Gillian Petrokofsky, Research Fellow, Oxford Long-term Ecology Lab, University of Oxford, UK William Harvey, Oxford Long-term Ecology Lab, University of Oxford, UK | Download the Workshop Programme |
This Workshop module presented a set of tools for systematic reviews of forestry knowledge with a view to supporting good decision-making.
Using a participatory approach, participants were instructed in preparing a series of systematic reviews to support and prioritise policy questions. Participants were introduced to the skills required for evidence-based forestry analysis. In a series of several sessions issues such as framing answerable questions to address policy and practice concerns were explored, looking at “what is evidence” for individual review questions, finding the best available evidence to answer the question, recognizing the limitations of available studies and the problem of bias, and critically appraising the evidence for its validity and usefulness. In terms of management of reviews participants learned about planning a systematic review, collaborating to form a systematic review team, devising active dissemination strategies to publicise results and presenting results in different formats for different audiences.
Training Workshop III - IMPLEMENTING FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION IN AFRICA AND ASIA
| Trainers & Resource Persons: | Download the Detailed Workshop Report  |
Participants from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America – 22 in all – attended the workshop focusing on implementing forest landscape restoration and the science policy interface. Dr John Stanturf led the workshop, ably assisted by five leading FLR experts – Dr Ernest Foli from Ghana, Dr Promode Kant from India, Dr Bandara Ariyaratna from Sri Lanka, Dr Steve Makungwa from Malawi, and Dr Andras Darabant from Austria. The three learning objectives were for participants to:
- Understand the global context for Forest Landscape Restoration and the complexity of implementation;
- Become familiar with the best practices to work at the science-policy interface; and
- Develop a science-policy communication product using a case study from Madagascar.
Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) was introduced as a multi‐stakeholder, highly participatory process of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing human welfare in deforested and degraded landscapes. Key concepts and definitions of landscape, degradation drivers, and FLR success factors were introduced. The Project Management Cycle process for successful implementation was presented, emphasizing that solutions must be locally adapted to social, cultural and ecological values, economic realities, and fully recognizing the importance of landscape history. The message was that FLR should result in a productive, functioning landscape that provides more social, economic and environmental benefits to society. Various passive and active techniques for manipulating vegetation were described. The importance of effective communication among, and active participation by, stakeholders was a constant theme.
Governance and tenure issues often form the greatest obstacles to successful FLR. Although these contentious issues may not be resolved by an FLR project, they must be addressed by consensus goals and transparent processes that ensure equity for all segments of communities. Developing an enabling environment is crucial; this means appropriate policies, effective incentives, and sustainable supply chains that bring income to primary producers of forest products.
The role of FLR in global policy processes was discussed, including the Bonn Challenge, New York Declaration on Forests, REDD+, Paris Agreement on Climate Change, UNCCD, Convention on Biological Diversity, and other regional processes. Participants were keenly interested in the financial mechanisms that have made FLR possible in many countries. Limitations of existing financial mechanisms, and the evolving possibilities of more effective financial support regimes, were discussed.
The challenges of transferring science to policy and practice, while avoiding advocacy, was the lead-in to the group work. The theory of science-policy interfacing, methods for planning, conducting, and organizing research activities, and ways to effectively communicate findings to policy makers set the stage for the group work. All groups used an FLR case study from Madagascar and decided themselves their target audience, communication method, and key messages.
The highlight of the workshop was the presentation of the science-policy communication products devised by participants in three small groups. Spirited discussions in the groups, aided by the facilitators, resulted in three quite different products: a policy brief aimed at a donor for financing, a policy brief targeting government officials at local, provincial and national levels to scale-up the case study, and an advocacy presentation in the framework of a personal audience with the Minister of Forests of Madagascar done by the group as a play. At the end of the workshop, participants exchanged contacts, created a WhatsApp group, and decided to maintain contact and establish a professional FLR network.
Training Workshop IV - LA PRÁCTICA DE LA RESTAURACIÓN DE LOS PAISAJES FORESTALES
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| Download the detailed Workshop Report  |
Objetivo: Discutir con las y los participantes, sobre los principales enfoques de trabajo, estrategias y herramientas para abordar procesos de restauración de paisajes con bosques.
Dada la relevancia creciente que ha ganado el tema de la restauración de áreas degradadas, los últimos años, como una ruta para recuperar al menos parte de sus funciones ecológicas y servicios ecosistémicos derivados de las mismas, IUFRO ha procurado ordenar conceptos, enfoques de trabajo y herramientas útiles para las y los profesionales y líderes locales que tienen la responsabilidad o la oportunidad de implementar acciones de restauración.
El enfoque predominante de los esfuerzos globales para la restauración, inspirado por propuestas y acuerdos como las metas de Aichi, de la Convención de Diversidad Biológica, y los objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible, se orienta a la recuperación acelerada de funciones ecológicas a gran escala. Acuerdos internacionales como el Bonn Challenge, el acuerdo de Nueva York o la iniciativa 20x20 de restauración para Latinoamérica, han motivado a muchos países, desde sus gobiernos, a asumir compromisos para la restauración de muchos millones de hectáreas, aunque persistan dudas sobre los enfoques de restauración válidos, y el tipo de enfoques y sistemas de trabajo que permitan estos logros. Es por eso que el enfoque de Restauración de Paisajes Forestales resulta fundamental para lograr avances significativos en la restauración a gran escala, que se reflejen a su vez en la recuperación de servicios ecosistémicos fundamentales para el desarrollo y bienestar humano.
Este curso pre-congreso fue un espacio para compartir y discutir concentos y enfoques fundamentales de trabajo, así como métodos y herramientas propuestas por IUFRO para abordar estos retos.
Más detalles: https://catie.ac.cr/en/catie-news/4131-foresters-in-the-region-now-have-a-guide-to-forest-landscape-restoration.html
Presentation for download:
 Presentation part I |  Presentation Part III |
