The FIRE Foundation will be conducting an International Course on Forest Landscape Restoration. The Course that is being organized by the International Foundation for Ecosystem Restoration (FIRE) and the Institute of Ecology A. C. (INECOL-Mexico), is designed to develop a comprehensive understanding of the processes involved in regaining ecological integrity and enhancing human well-being in deforested or degraded forest landscapes, with an emphasis on Latin-American socioecological conditions.

The course will be in Spanish and is designed for mid-career professionals with an interest in forest landscape restoration. The four-week course (40 h) will cover four main themes or modules, and will have a cost of 150 USD.

In the first module, participants will learn the main factors of change in Latin-American landscapes and the forest landscape restoration approach. The second module will address the criteria and techniques of determining forest landscape restoration priorities and opportunities. In the third module, students will learn a range of restoration techniques applicable in highly degraded sites, protected areas, plantations, secondary and degraded forests, abandoned mines and urban areas; this module will cover a broad spectrum of issues related to landscape multiple functionality and restoration of environmental services, such as the improvement of agricultural areas and implementation of ecological corridors and agroforestry systems. Finally, the fourth module will address the major political, legal, economic and social challenges involved in the implementation of forest restoration at the landscape level.

This interactive online course will evaluate students through a review of real forest landscape projects from six Latin-American countries and will allow them to debate and share experiences via the e-learning platform. The course will be held during the second semester of 2017. For more information, please contact the course coordinators, Dr. Fabiola López-Barrera and Dr. José Ma. Rey-Benayas, at restauracion.ecologica@ecologia.edu.mx