Activities in Colombia

Identifying alternative ways for rural residents to illegal crop cultivation is a policy issue for alleviating poverty in Colombia. Among the options, forestry product industry is given serious consideration. The aim of the Natural Forest Management and Sustainable Use Project is to develop human resources to have experiences and expertise in regard to technical guidance and promotional activities in the areas of conservation plan formulation and sustainable use of forest resources. This project is implemented for the educational staff at regional government agencies involved in forest management planning and forestry resources particularly in the Amazon and Pacific Coast regions where natural forests are concentrated.

To strengthen the ability of agencies involved in the management and sustainable use of natural forests in the target region, trainings are being provided, primarily in neighboring countries. Topics covered in the training sessions include measurement and monitoring techniques of forest resource status quo as well as knowledge and technical skills relating to natural forest management and sustainable use in the subject regions. More than that, trainees are providing technical guidance to the community and producers, which helps those working in the field advance further their expertise and technical knowledge.

Project Highlights

Based on the needs from each agency involved in “natural forest management and utilization,” various trainings with different themes have been provided with the cooperation of the National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia) and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE: Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza). In Brazil, for example, a training which object is “natural forest management and monitoring” is being conducted, and the trainees are spreading techniques for natural forest management and sustainable use to the community and producers as well as improving the monitoring skills in the field.

• Record of Discussions signed on: February 8, 2007
• Total Amount of Cooperation: 198.066 million yen
• Executing Agency: the National Planning Department (Departamento Nacional de Planeación or DNP) Sustainable Rural Development Directorate