The Forest and Water Programme has developed this module-based facilitation guide to provide appropriate background information, resource materials and a proposed facilitation plan to support the delivery of a participatory learning workshop, or capacity development programme on the forest-water nexus. The facilitation guide aims to (1) develop an understanding of forest-water interactions within local and broader contexts; (2) conceive specific activities and/or actions that take an understanding of forest-water interactions into account; and (3) support the design of a forest-water monitoring plan and system that can work for the local context. 

The Facilitation Guide has been presented at the XXV IUFRO World Congress in Curitiba, Brazil, were Ms. Elaine Springgay, Forestry Officer for Forests & Water at FAO, introduced it during the session titled “Nexus: forest, water and climate” on Friday October 4. Her presentation “The Forest-Water Nexus: an international perspective” provided a closer look of the work being done at FAO in this area with the objective of identifying and discussing the gaps and opportunities where the forest-water-climate nexus can be addressed globally, regionally and nationally.

This Facilitation Guide is part of FAO’s Forest and Water Programme capacity development initiative, whose overall objective is to improve the management of forests and trees for the provision of water-related ecosystem services. This guide will contribute to achieving this as it focuses on improving understanding of forest-water relationships and the contribution of these interactions to water and food security, and to community resilience. Furthermore, it supports workshop participants in the inclusion of water considerations in forest and/or land-use planning and management, as well as the incorporation of forests as natural solutions to water management.

Recommended additional resources for each module of the facilitation guide are available in the capacity development section of this website.