Inaugural meeting for Africa Practitioners’ Network

The APN was established as a means of building local capacity of people in governments, companies, communities and NGOs in West and Central Africa to understand, implement and monitor sustainability initiatives in the region. Coordinated by Proforest, the Network has been running a pilot phase since March 2014. 
The APN aims to build a pool of competent, local practitioners working on the key social and environmental issues in forestry and agriculture. These practitioners will be able to build on new policies and initiatives, in order to improve the governance and management of natural resources.
The inaugural meeting brings together a wide range of partners. It aims to consolidate broad support for the programme by organisations in the region to ensure its long-term sustainability. 
The meeting will also review and seek feedback on the pilot phase, discuss plans for 2015, and hold a participatory planning session for the 2015 roll-out of activities. There will be discussions on the governance and practical operation of the Network among partners. 
Participants are expected from Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Nigeria and Gabon. They include organisations that have committed to support the development and delivery of capacity building and those that are benefiting from training of practitioners.  
On behalf of the APN, Proforest looks forward to welcoming representatives of the following organisations to the meeting: 
Afri-Cert
Arocha Ghana
ATO-ITTO Joint Project
Bonstec Sustainability/ SCS Global Services
Cameroon Forest Certification Initiative 
Client Earth
Conservation Alliance
Environment & Rural Development Foundation
Environmental Governance Institute
Fauna & Flora International 
Foder
Rainforest Alliance
Forest Stewardship Council
Forest Trends/Nature Conservation and Research Center
Forest Watch Ghana
Forestry Commission
Friends of the Earth-Ghana
IUCN
Kumasi Wood Cluster
Nature and Development Foundation
Nigeria Conservation Foundation/WWF Nigeria
Resource Trust
Solidaridad
SOS Forets
Tropenbos Ghana
Woodman & Padfield Associates
Working Group Ghana
WWF-CARPO

For further information, please contact Nana Darko Cobbina (nana@proforest.net) 

The Africa Practitioners' Network is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID).