UDS, partners hold training workshop on landscape restoration at Nyankpala

Nyankpala (N/R), Jan 31 - A four-day training workshop under the Pan-African Restoration Education Programme has been held at Nyankpala, near Tamale, to equip participants with practical skills in landscape restoration.

It focused on bridging skills gaps in restoration practice and research.

It was organised by the Department of Environment and Sustainability Sciences and the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources of the University for Development Studies (UDS) with support from the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry Centre.

Participants included forestry experts, environmental professionals, policymakers, community-based organisations and undergraduate students of the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources of UDS.

They acquired hands-on skills in landscape restoration, research and stakeholder engagement, which are essential to their professional work.

Dr Esther Ekua Amoako, Senior Lecturer at UDS and a core team member of Restoration Education, speaking during the workshop, said it sought to address a critical skills deficit needed to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification especially in dryland restoration.

She said it was also to strengthen collaboration with industry partners, attract research grants and deepen participants’ understanding of stakeholder analysis and power dynamics in restoration initiatives.

She said the workshop formed part of a broader Pan-African initiative being implemented in five universities; one each in Nigeria, Malawi and Rwanda as well as UDS, and the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani.

Dr Cuthbert Kaba, a staff member of the Department of Food Security and Climate Change of UDS, who was a participant, lauded the workshop describing it as relevant to his personal and professional interests.