From 11 to 13 April, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held a three-day training workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) for Results in Yerevan, Armenia. The workshop was organized as part of FAO’s project entitled ‘Enhancing Forest Resilience in Armenia for Adaptation and Rural Green Growth.’ The workshop targeted representatives of the Ministry of Environment of Armenia and other relevant Government agencies, including the Environmental Projects Implementation Unit. It was introduced by the Project’s Coordinator Nerses Kyurinyan, and facilitated and led by Monitoring Specialist Gayane Simonyan and Evaluation Specialist Seda Kojoyan.

The training sessions were designed to provide participants with practical knowledge and skills in M&E. They covered a range of topics over the three days, including the vision of the project and M&E fundamentals, and M&E principles for projects funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Participants also delved into the details of survey design and the selection and use of qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments, means of verification and storage, record maintenance, and upkeep.

The training workshop was highly interactive, with participants actively engaging in group discussions, exercises, and Q&A sessions. The practical knowledge and skills gained during the workshop are expected to enhance the capacity of participants in effectively implementing M&E in the forestry sector, particularly in the context of the ‘Forest Resilience of Armenia’ project.

‘Forest Resilience of Armenia’ project

The project entitled ‘Forest resilience of Armenia, enhancing adaptation and rural green growth via mitigation’ is implemented by FAO and the Environmental Project Implementation Unit of the Ministry of Environment of Armenia. The project is co-funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Government of Armenia, the Austrian Development Agency, the Autonomous Province of Bolzano - Italy, and the World Wildlife Fund Armenia.

This eight-year forestry project aims to increase forest cover in Armenia by 2.5 percent, and to reduce the fuelwood demand of rural communities by at least 30 percent. The project also works to increase the role of communities governing and managing natural resources, and to improve fuelwood management as well as the production of wood and non-wood forest products and services.

Two regions – Lori in the north, and Syunik in the south – are targeted. They were selected based on forest types, population density, local poverty levels, and exposure to climate change, in addition to the potential impact on important forest ecosystems.

The project represents a relatively new approach to sustainable forest management in Armenia, with the potential to act as a model for the entire country and to produce a paradigm shift towards low-emission development.