In India, a paradigm shift in forest management is needed towards a more robust consideration of forest ecosystem services (FES) and a more participatory forest management-centric approach. In an earlier assignment for capacity building of forest department officials, Unique identified a list of training modules for this purpose. The GIZ project “Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystem Services” addressed this need and commissioned a series of training events to raise forest department officials' and master trainers' awareness of the importance of FES, with a particular focus on water resources in forest management. Next to capacity building on technical topics, additional courses were provided on complementary soft skills.

• Design of 14 training modules on technical subjects (8 modules) and soft skills (6 modules)
• Training modules implementation for senior officials of the forest department and master trainers
• At national and state level: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
• Monitoring of the training after three months (to increase sustainability)
• Development of a facilitation guide for future training events on the topics mentioned above