Diploma Program Aims to Strengthen Rural Development and Forest Management in Biobío
A total of 25 professionals, including staff from the Local Development Program, Prodesal, as well as from the Agricultural Development Institute, Indap, and private institutions, completed the diploma programs in Forest Extension and Sustainable Rural Development, and in Silviculture and Management of Native Forests, offered by the Faculty of Forest Sciences at the University of Concepción.
Both programs were implemented to enhance the skills of teams working with Family Farming Agriculture (AFC), promoting a more comprehensive and sustainable production model, executed by the Forestry Institute, Infor, and funded by the National Fund for Regional Development (FNDR) of the Biobío Regional Government.
In this regard, the deputy executive director of INFOR, Marta González, emphasized that "these diploma programs will enable agricultural professionals to connect and develop skills, thereby implementing technical tools that allow for their improvement in support of Family Farming Agriculture."
For her part, the Regional Minister of Agriculture, Pamela Gatti, similarly valued that "it is an important initiative, developed on a personal and professional level, mainly for professionals working in the rural world, who will now have new tools and capabilities to respond to farmers, thus helping to reduce the gaps in our territories."
Ecosystem services
The diploma programs aimed to make the forestry sector a key component for generating ecosystem services, in balance with the productive needs of the territory. Additionally, they were complemented with scientific and technical tools to improve sustainable forest management, increasing its commercial and ecological value through management practices based on an ecosystem approach.
In this line, Rosa Alzamora, director of the Department of Forest Management and Environment at the Faculty of Forest Sciences of the University of Concepción, detailed that "the diploma program has very particular characteristics because it provides forestry capabilities to all people working in rural technology transfer, who had normally been trained only in the agricultural aspect."
Furthermore, she added that "the characteristics of these properties of family farming agriculture are diverse sectors. So, now the idea is that they also contribute with capabilities to promote forest management, and, of course, that this helps improve their quality of life."
One of the professionals who completed the diploma program was Carolina Vallejos, head of the Indap Santa Bárbara area, who valued the training opportunity provided by the institutions.
"We are super happy to finish this stage that will help us in our daily work in the different communes of the region. We started the diploma program with extensionism, with the development of an extensionism, to make the work with our users more participatory. So, it is super applicable and we hope it will be a good tool to apply in our territories," detailed Vallejos.
Representatives
During the closing ceremony, representatives from the University of Concepción were present, along with the Regional Minister of Agriculture, agricultural services, the Forestry Institute, academics, and students who were part of the diploma programs.
These initiatives are developed within the framework of the programs "Forest Extension for Improving Technological Capabilities and Productive Reactivation of Small and Medium-sized Properties in the Biobío Region" and "Training and Technology Transfer in Silvicultural Management of the Forest," which reflect the institutional commitment to sustainable development and the modernization of the regional forestry sector.
