The Africa Forest Forum (AFF) a non-governmental Pan-African Organisation specialising in sustainable management used and conservation of the forests and tree resources of Africa for socio-economic development of the continent has completed a two days convergence for African science reporters meant to build their capacities in effectively and efficiently reporting on climate change and the forest sector.
The convergence that was held both physically and virtually brought together journalists from both print and broadcast media, bloggers, and experts who responded to various questions from journalists drawn from different countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The media roundtable was held on the sidelines of a five (5) days regional workshop organized by AFF meant to diagnose the opportunities and challenges in forest management for sustainable development in Africa in the context of climate change.
According to a media release issued by the Pan-African Organisation, the media roundtable discussion is specifically designed to strengthen the capacities of science reporters to better understand and effectively report on how African countries are handling climate change impacts on the forestry sector and people that depend on it.
AFF communique continued to disclose that the media roundtable discussion will improve the understanding of the media professionals on potential direct and indirect impacts of climate change with respect to forest resources and the people who depend on them, adding that it will avail the journalists to share widely AFF reports gathered over the past two years on sustainable management of forest and forest-related climate-resilient in Africa.
The release also highlighted that the two days convergence will create personal relationships between the panel of experts and media outlets for a wider audience, adding that the convergence will also build a pool dedicated to effective coverage of forest and climate change in Africa among other objectives.
AFF further disclosed that the media roundtable discussion is part of a funding package obtained from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) that is implementing two projects, namely: “Strengthening management and use of forest ecosystems for sustainable development in Africa” and “African forests, people and climate change” respectively.
According to AFF, both projects seek to generate and share knowledge and information through partnerships in ways that will provide inputs into policy options and capacity-building efforts in order to improve forest management in a manner that better addresses poverty eradication and environmental protection in Africa.
“The studies undertaken through these two projects aim to adequately support African countries in their efforts in promoting and implementing sustainable land and forest management, particularly aligning their interventions in these areas with provisions arising from the recommendations and resolutions of discourses from global, regional, and sub-regional institutions,” AFF stated in its presser.
Author: Kebba Ansu Manneh
