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The Katoomba Group has designed and implemented customized PES training programs and materials which deliver lasting results for audiences including: governments, civil society, environmental funds and finance institutions, community leaders and universities.

Our goal in developing customized courses is to build capacity for:

  • Sustainable, equitable, and effective PES projects
  • Enabling national policies for PES
  • Individuals in a variety of fields with knowledge about markets and payments for ecosystem services

Examples of Past Katoomba Customized PES Training Programs and Materials

  • REDD+ Project Development and Integration with National Systems in the DRC
    A workshop series to provide step by step guidance for developing forest carbon projects, assess their social impacts, and outline a viable framework for integrating them to the national REDD strategy in the DRC
    • Goma, North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, September 20, 2011 - September 26, 2011
    • Forest Trends and partners conducted a series of workshops, including:
    • Training: Step by Step Guide to REDD+ Project Development: 2-day course for REDD+ project developers, spanning issues from climate change science and market standards to evaluating project feasibility, project design documentation, technical guidance on establishing baselines as well as assessing leakage, reviewing inventory procedures, carbon stock assessment, MRV systems and legal and business assistance. The training concludes with a review of case studies and benefit sharing.
    • Training: Social Impact Assessment: 3-day course for REDD+ project developers aiming for validation under the CCB Standards, or other multiple-benefit carbon standards. The course will introduce methods for social impact assessment methods and standards for verifying co-benefits as a way to promote the social outcomes of land-based carbon projects.
    • Dialogue: Integrating Sub-national Projects through 'Nesting Approaches': 1-day dialogue with national REDD+ planners to review international experience with 'nested approaches' to sub-national and national REDD+ activities. The afternoon will be spent discussing implications for the DRC.
    • Introduction to Provincial REDD+ Priority Setting: REDD+ Opportunities Scoping Exercise (ROSE): Introduction to how to think critically about how to prioritize REDD+ opportunities within North-Kivu; experiences from other countries. 1 day of group exercises to begin to examine the opportunities and constraints to REDD+ development in North-Kivu.
    • To view presentations from these events, please click HERE.
  • Multi-Stakeholder Training on Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) and Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)
    A 2-day training workshop for African public policy makers, private sector representatives, and NGOs to increase understanding of potential opportunities in PES and REDD
    • Nairobi, Kenya, August 8-9, 2011

    • This workshop was the first of two offered by ICRAF's PRESA Project, The Katoomba Group, and Forest Trends--with funding from UNDP in August 2011--on Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) and Reducing Emissions from Degradation and Deforestation (REDD+).

    • Participants included policy makers, private sector stakeholders and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from Cameroon, Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The aim was to increase understanding of the opportunities associated with payments for ecosystem services highlighting the potential of PES to create incentives for natural resource management practices that take into consideration, and derive benefits from, the value carbon sequestration, water quality and quantity, and biodiversity.

      Objectives:
      • Introduce PES and related areas of REDD+;
      • Discuss policy, legal and institutional supports that can enable, or prohibit, PES transactions at a national or sub-national level;
      • Explain what PES and REDD+ agreements entail for all parties;
      • Review how PES can be most effectively designed and managed;
      • Present a set of case studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America that illustrate key details of past transactions.
    • At the end of the workshop, participants were more familiar with assessing prospects for PES in their countries. Please see resources listed below for additional information.
    • Resources
  • Building Capacity of Ugandan Communities to Make Informed Decisions about Engaging in Payments for Ecosystem Services
    A 3-day community training workshop for the National Environmental Authority (NEMA) in Uganda to introduce concepts and practices of PES
    • Hoima, Uganda, April 6 - 8

    • 44 community leaders from the region and 14 instructors and organizers met in Hoima, Uganda at the Hoima Kolping Conference Center.  The purpose of the workshop was to increase capacity of private landowners and local communities to make informed decisions about participation in PES schemes and to better interact with PES project developers. Organizers and instructors provided foundational information on ecosystem services, markets, and payments. 

       

      At the end of the three days, participants had a strong understanding of the basic components of project design, contracts, and associated land use change commitments. The participants chosen to take part in this training were selected due to their ability to learn this new information and share it within their areas of influence, outreach to other community based organizations. This will create a multiplier effect whereby many people who could not attend the original training will also learn about payments for ecosystem services (PES) and related concepts.

    • Objectives:
      • understand the basic aspects of designing PES project;
      • review PES agreements;
      • make informed decisions about participating in PES;
      • engage in land use change related commitments within PES schemes.
    • Resources
  • Payments for Ecosystem Services and Climate Change with Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV)
    An 8 hour component of ‘Management for Low Carbon’, a 60-hour course offered by FGV’s Center for Sustainability Studies

    • Sao Paolo, Brazil, December 2010

    • In December 2010, the Katoomba Group in collaboration with the FT’s Communities & Markets Program led a component of ‘‘Management for Low Carbon”, a 60 hour course offered by the Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Center for Sustainability Studies. Course participants were predominately private sector and public sector decision makers.
    • Modules
      • Introduction to the Concept & Practice of PES
      • Business Relevance
      • National and International Practices in PES
      • Interface of Environmental Services, Markets and Climate Change in the ‘Biomass Economy’
      • Essential Components for Design of PES projects
      • Potential for REDD+ initiatives in Brazil
      • Socio-Environmental Principles and Criteria for the Implementation of REDD+ in Brazil
      • Application of Social Impact Assessment in Forest Carbon Project
    • Resources
  • The Role of Environmental Funds in the Design and Implementation of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) Projects
    A training workshop for the Network of Latin American Environmental Funds (RedLAC), jointly implemented by EKO Asset Management Partners and Forest Trends’ Katoomba Group

    • Guadalajara, Mexico, November 12 - 14, 2010

    • The Katoomba Group delivered to RedLAC (a network of environmental funds in Latin America) a 3-day workshop on payments for ecosystem services and the role of environmental funds in PES project design and implementation from Nov 12 - 14.

    • Objectives
      • Improve the capacity of Environmental Funds' technical professionals to develop a Payment for Environmental Services (PES) project.
      • Discuss successful PES project experiences with the involvement of environmental funds. Analyze the details and challenges of implementation.
      • Review the theory and practical concepts of PES to enable participants to transfer the knowledge acquired to colleagues/
      • Content Summary: A Review of Payments for Environmental Services, Step by Step - How to Develop a PES Project, The Role of Environmental Funds in PES Projects
    • Resources
  • Environmental Services Capacity Building Course for Technical Staff of the Government of Acre
    A training workshop jointly hosted by Forest Trends and the State Secretary of Environment (SEMA)

    • Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil, 9 - 12 November, 2010

    • Forest Trends’ Communities and Markets Program, the Katoomba Group’s Rapid Response Team, and the Acre State Secretary of Environmental Management (SEMA) delivered a 4-day workshop to government technical experts in Acre from 9 – 12 November 2010. The training course focused on the basics of environmental services and REDD in preparation for implementing the forest carbon and PES framework introduced with the new System of Incentives for Environmental Services (SISA) in Acre.

    • Objectives

      • Introduce the role of forests in climate change
      • Define environmental services
      • Describe payments for environmental services (PES), carbon markets, and reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD)
      • Provide background on international climate negotiations, and Brazil’s national REDD regime
      • Outline the principal elements of the regional level carbon policy in Acre
      • Present the essential elements of a carbon project, accounting and MRV methodologies
      • Discuss opportunities for PES outside of carbon/ REDD
      • Explore incentives and finance for conservation in the context of SISA
      • Share information on Indigenous Rights, Best Practices and Social Environmental Principles and Criteria
      Resources
For more information please contact Tommie Herbert, Program Associate, The Katoomba Group at therbert[at]forest-trends.org.