A partnership has been established with CATIE, as a regional partner of FAO and the NFP Facility, to provide training activities on enhanced stakeholder participation in national forest programmes. This partnership is mutually beneficial where FAO and the Facility will continue to provide technical support to CATIE on the subject, and CATIE will utilise its wide membership in the region to support the delivery of capacity building modules developed by FAO to partner countries.

As part of this partnership, a regional training on enhancing stakeholder participation in national forest programmes was held for CATIE staff 29 November - 3 December 2010. 11 members of CATIE staff (both Core and on projects) and partners from Guatemala and Belize were trained as trainers on the subject.

The workshop was delivered in a very practical manner orienting the participants to the content of the training (in the perspective of trainees) and on how to conduct the training (perspective of the trainers). Several tools of enhancing stakeholder participation were introduced to the participants, which they used in simulated exercises and field practicals.

The last day of the training enabled participants to plan feasible actions as follow-up to the training orientation they had just received. The planned actions stressed the importance of further practicing and trying out the participatory methods and tools and get more hands-on experience before the proposed Training of trainers (ToT).

As a follow-up to this training, the FAO and NFP-Facility are committed to support CATIE through coaching and technical guidance in organising and facilitating Training of Trainers (ToT) activities in Central America; South America and in Nicaragua.