The Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, with support from UNDP Zambia and in collaboration with the Sustainability Challenge Foundation (SCF), is hosting the Regional Programme on the Management of Sustainability for Zambia, a negotiation training for protected area stakeholders based on the Mutual Gains Approach, in Lusaka from 15 – 20 November 2015. The programme builds on the BIOPAMA course curriculum developed for protected areas.

Materials developed specifically for protected area managers through BIOPAMA will be used in this course. In addition, the faculty will include trainers trained through BIOPAMA, extending the network and expertise of trainers in this region as well as building additional capacity on negotiating for sustainable development.

This training has two components: a one-day workshop for Directors in the natural resources management  related line ministries to introduce them to the mutual gains approach and the training curriculum and then a four-day course for  natural resources management stakeholders to build their capacity in negotiating for sustainable outcomes supporting biodiversity conservation in protected areas.

Winnie Musonda, Assistant Resident Representative & Environment Advisor at UNDP Zambia, comments: “We hope that this is the first of many trainings on this very important skill set, not only for Protected Area Managers, but for all stakeholders negotiating sustainable development that will contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, the successor to the Millennium Development Goals that over 193 countries including Zambia have endorsed. This will ultimately contribute to protecting the environment and natural resources on which our lives depend, today and for future generations.”