Training initiatives in the field of Forest-Environment in the Central African sub-region have not only multiplied, they have also become more and more professional since November 2005, when the first meeting of the Regional Coordination Panel (Cadre de Concertation Régional CCR) dedicated to training matters took place in Kinshasa. Pushed by this dynamic development and eager to offer a regular updating of the region’s acquis, RIFFEAC, with the support of COMIFAC and other partners, has organised a regional seminar on forest and environmental training in Douala (1-3 December).

The goals of the meeting were two-fold:
1)    On the one hand, sharing experiences, appraising the progress made and summarising the present training situation in the field of FFE (Formation Forêt Environment) in Central Africa during the Regional Coordination Panel’s meeting on December 1st.
2)    On the other hand, enhancing these exchanges during a workshop (December 2-3) aimed at defining directing principles for the foundation of a Regional Training Policy.

Should there still be any doubts about the importance of training  for  comprehensively treating the question of sustainable forest management in the Congo Basin, then the professionalism and great variety of the attending parties that were leading a rich and intensive exchange throughout the seminar, have delivered a clear statement. As has been announced during the meeting, partners will soon draft a concept for regional training policies thus providing the framework needed to coordinating their upcoming activities, and to guarantee a skillful use of resources for attaining primarily shared objectives.

RIFFEAC’s Administration Council, which has been meeting on December 4th immediately after the seminar, has already validated a number of activities in its yearly Plan of Action, and will thus allow implementing the principal recommendations drafted during the seminar. The dynamic will continue, passing from words to action!

Please find a summary of the two connected meetings in the present report of proceedings (in French).

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One of the main objectives of the “Central African Network of Forest and Environmental Training Institutions ("RIFFEAC") identified in its Operational Plan is outlining, in close cooperation with the COMIFAC, general principles for sub-regional training policies. Based on these policies, partners should be able to identify a number of priorities that could be effectively be managed on a regional level and to work out a coherent framework for the different intervening parties (in particular the technical and financial partners). This overall framework should further aim at offering general managerial principles for implementing the component 7.4. of the COMIFAC Convergence Plan.