Young African Forestry Professionals Publication Project (YAFP)
Background
Forests contribute greatly to climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation, watershed functions, livelihoods and recreation. These developments have a great potential in promoting sustainable forest management and offering numerous career opportunities including green jobs. Nevertheless, there is declining interest among African youths in considering forestry as a profession they can pursue. Many perceptions that paint a negative picture of the profession also exist such as rigidity of the profession that is not up to date with the current trends, few job prospects among others. There is a need to raise awareness on the career opportunities that forestry education could offer to young people and to counter the existing negative perceptions.
Therefore, the Young African Forestry Professionals Publication project (YAFP) has recently been launched by IFSA and IUFRO. The project’s overall goal is to motivate and inspire young people to pursue forest-related studies and careers in Africa by increasing the visibility of career options and young African role models working in forest-related fields. This will also help in offering visibility to the forestry profession in Africa.
Launch of "Building a Successful Forestry Career in Africa"
A year after the commencement of the project a book titled "Building a successful forestry career in Africa: inspirational stories and opportunities" has been published. The book was launched on 12 August 2021 in a virtual event organized by the Joint IUFRO-IFSA Task Force on Forest Education (JTF) and the International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA).
YAFP Book Launch events: A Resounding Success Story. By Annie Biju