The newly established Community of Practice on Forest and Landscape Restoration will host its first online knowledge sharing forum in November and December 2017. During its first forum, the Community will focus on monitoring before expanding to a wider range of topics. FAO, as facilitator of the community, and its partners invite all those interested to take part in the webinar and related email-based discussion.

Objectives of the learning event
In the context of the collaborative roadmap for FLR monitoring, a joint effort of multiple technical partners involved in restoration, the event aims at:

• Developing participants’ knowledge and capacity to understand monitoring in forest and landscape restoration, including its rationale, prerequisites, approaches and innovative tools;
• Launching and supporting exchanges of experience between members of the online community of practice;
• Encouraging practitioners to suggest tools for the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism’s Knowledge Base;
• Collecting ideas, inputs and feedback on the guidance document and future tool for “Measuring Progress for Forest and Landscape Restoration” under preparation by WRI and FAO.

Target audience
The event will be particularly useful to:

• Practitioners of Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR), especially:
  o National focal points and officials with interest in FLR
  o Academia and private sector, and
  o Civil society organizations working with communities on FLR implementation.
• Monitoring and evaluation experts of FLR projects, and
• Government officers responsible for monitoring and reporting on FLR, climate and Sustainable Development Goals.

How to join the learning event and the community?
All those interested are requested to join the event and online community by filling in the enrolment form by Monday 27 November 2017: http://bit.ly/flr-monitoring-event 

All participants can attend the event for free from their own desktop computers or mobile devices, the only requirement being a good internet connection. Participants will receive supplementary materials and links prior to the webinar. Participation is free of charge. The organizers aim at catering to the needs of the participants. Please note that no certificates are offered. The participants have the opportunity to continue participation in the newly launched online community of practice, forming its core and shaping the community’s further joint activities and exchanges. To influence the community’s focus, please complete the needs assessment.

Why this online event?

Monitoring FLR efforts plays a critical role in several ways, it can:

• Support the implementation of FLR interventions at all scales and provide feedback for adaptive management and learning
• Provide evidence of progress, achievements and impact in relation to expectations and targets
• Support reporting to FLR investors from different sources and foster additional investments, and
• Support reporting on national, regional and international commitments.

By gathering practitioners in an online forum, the community of practice allows participants to share knowledge and innovation on FLR. The need for increased knowledge sharing on FLR issues sparked the idea of building an online community that is open for everyone interested.

Further information
Enrolment form
About the event: http://bit.ly/2yoTr37_website
About the community: http://bit.ly/2xLsyCd_CoP