Capacity building

A fundamental aim of ITTO’s work is to raise capacity for sustainable forest management (SFM) in the tropics across a wide spectrum of stakeholders, including forest communities, smallholders, small and medium-sized forest enterprises, governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.

ITTO has a strong focus on enabling local communities and industries to sustainably use forest resources. Working closely with local people to build their capacity to develop and manage forest-based enterprises, engage in forest governance processes and implement SFM helps ensure the sustainability of ITTO project outcomes. The Organization supports training at the local, national and regional levels to build skills in SFM and sustainable wood industries and trade. It also enables young and mid-career professionals to build their expertise through its Fellowship Programme, and it works to raise public awareness on issues related to SFM, forest industry development and tropical timber markets.