Dr Simon Langan (left) of the Macaulay Institute in a brainstorming session during BESSA training workshop.
A two week training workshop by PRESA and the Macaulay Institute ended on 3rd April with environmental practitioners from across the world sharing valuable skills in rewards for ecosystem services.
The workshop titled, Building Ecosystem Services Research Capacity for Semi-Arid Africa (BESSA) began on Tuesday 24th March at the ICRAF headquarters in Nairobi and ended at the Mount Kenya East site in Embu.
10 trainers from ICRAF and the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute facilitated this workshop. The 64 workshop participants came from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, Indonesia, Guinea, USA and Europe.
Sessions included information on the ecosystem services approach, bridging the gaps between knowledge and aciton, valuation of ecosystem services and contract design. The workshop helped them understand the ‘Payments for Environmental Services landscape’, including the diverse actors, institutions, tools and policy issues.
Discussions relating to REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) were interwoven with most sessions.
BESSA is a partnership with the UK-based Macaulay Institute for Land Use Research, with funding from the UK National Environment Research Council. The workshop was targeted at analysts or researchers implementing case studies of the BESSA project and representatives of PRESA partner organizations and affiliated research organizations.
Regulators, investors and intermediary organizations interested in the potential for rewards for environmental services in East Africa were invited. Selected individuals from the broader PRESA community of practice also attended the training workshop.
There was a mix of interactive techniques including classroom lectures, group participation, games, technical sessions, field visits and measurement exercises.
Feedback began flowing from the participants before the end of the training with participants describing the workshop as “beyond expectation”, “enriching” and just “wow!”
Click here to view photos of the BESSA Training workshop.
Click here for video interviews taken during the BESSA Training workshop.
I like it. Keep up doing best to safeguard the future of our environment! I am your partner in making our environmental resources sustainable!
Regards,
Mulatu
I find the training workshop very useful. It gives participants opportunity to share expertise and experiences beyond disciplinary boundaries and link research outputs with real conditions on the ground. As BESSA/PRESA project member, I felt happy on on what the project has achieved so far and hope that, by pooling science and practice, BESSA/PRESA will make a difference in the areas of Natural Resource Management in Africa!