缅北禁地

Capacity development workshop on forest financing held in Malawi

This week, the UNFF Secretariat organized a capacity-building workshop on forest financing from 18 to 22 February in Lilongwe, Malawi. The workshop was part of the activities of the Global Forest Financing Facilitation Network (GFFFN) which is assisting Malawi in developing its national forest financing strategy and in building capacity for project formulation to access forest financing. The meeting was opened by Mrs. Nyuma Mughogho, Deputy Director of Department of Forestry, Ministry of Natural Resources, Malawi and was attended by 31 national participants from the Ministries of Natural Resources, Finance, Land, Housing and Urban Development, as well as the Coordination Unit for Rehabilitation of the Environment, Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi, Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Malawi College of Forestry and Wildlife.

The workshop aimed to build the capacity of the national participants in the National Forest Action Plan and Financing Strategy development, and project proposal formulation to access financing for sustainable forest management (SFM). The national experts identified deforestation and declining forest services as the major challenges facing the country. Some of the suggested interventions include forest landscape restoration, watershed management, improved management of protected areas and strengthening the capacity of village resource management committees. As a next step, the UNFF Secretariat will support Malawi to develop National Forest Financing Strategy and project proposal on SFM. The February 2019 capacity building workshop laid a solid foundation for ensuring a country-driven action planning and project development process.