Partner for Purpose: This story is the second in a five-part series highlighting how UBC faculty and staff partnerships create meaningful change, both within the university and beyond. 

When Dr. Peter Wood, a lecturer in UBC’s faculty of forestry and environmental stewardship, joined the university, he never imagined that the curriculum of the Master of International Forestry (MIF) program could create a lasting impact thousands of miles away from home. When Global Affairs Canada partnered with the faculty to help build Mozambique’s capacity to address deforestation and achieve sustainable forest management objectives, he saw an opportunity to put his curriculum into practice—on the world stage. 

Dr. Wood and a delegation from UBC were appointed to deliver workshops to civil servants in the government of Mozambique’s National Directorate of Forestry to help them understand the nuances of proposal writing to convince donors to provide climate funding. This was part of Global Affairs Canada’s Technical Assistance Partnership program, implemented by Alinea International. 

“It was very much that course content that I used to develop the training program with some tweaks made to fit the Mozambique context,” said Dr. Wood. “It really worked well.” 

At the beginning of each year, Dr. Wood gives his students a flag and asks them to work towards representing the country in a mock United Nations-style negotiation to secure support from the Green Climate Fund. They make a presentation to a panel of professors acting as decision makers, demonstrating why their country should receive an allocation of climate funding. 

Empowering nations to access global climate funding 

A passionate advocate for environmental protection and human rights, Dr. Wood has over two decades of experience in international forest policy and sustainability. Over the past year, he has travelled to Mozambique twice to lead workshops aimed at strengthening the government’s ability to develop credible project proposals and access international funding to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. 

Prior to UBC, Dr. Wood worked as a reporter for the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a Canadian-based international think tank covering major international negotiations on forests, climate change and biodiversity. He also held roles with the United Nations Forum on Forests, and non-governmental organizations working on sustainable forestry in the Congo Basin and in Borneo. His experience equipped him to persuade donors to fund forest-protection projects and navigate politically sensitive issues in developing countries. 

“Despite being one of the countries most in need of assistance to address deforestation and sustainable development, Mozambique has had limited success in accessing the billions of dollars in associated international funding,” said Dr. Wood.  

Mozambique is a country with significant natural forest cover, where forests are critical to the country’s social, environmental and economic wellbeing. However, rapid deforestation is threatening ecosystems and rural livelihoods, due to illegal logging, small-scale agriculture and demand for charcoal. 

“My role was to help the Mozambican civil service build capacity to access the substantial pool of international funding. Part of that is understanding the different terminology that needs to be used when communicating with donors,” said Dr. Wood. 

Building new conservation pathways for Mozambique  

Given the country’s history of political crisis, his challenge was ensuring the proposals included transparency and accountability measures to build donor confidence. “I focused on the importance of good governance measures and highlighted successful case studies from Angola, another Portuguese-speaking country in Africa facing similar challenges,” Dr. Wood explained. 

Using his connections in the UN, Dr. Wood also used his time in Mozambique to partner with the United Nations Forum on Forests in launching Mozambique’s national forest finance strategy. 

As a result of the training workshops in Mozambique, two viable proposals were created: one targeting deforestation driven by charcoal production in the Mopane woodlands, and the other to implement sustainable forest management across the Miombo Woodlands. 

“We were pleased to hear that the workshop participants have used these new skills to develop two draft proposals, targeting the Miombo and Mopane ecosystems,” said Gavin Nardocchio-Jones, manager of foreign policy and diplomacy service with the High Commission of Canada in Mozambique.  “We anticipate that the government of Mozambique’s National Directorate of Forestry will continue to apply to future funding opportunities that arise in the years to come.” 

Bridging the gap between classroom learning and global policy  

The Mozambican delegation was not the only group to benefit from the workshops. Dr. Wood’s MIF students had the opportunity to work on the gender analysis for the Mozambican proposals—a prerequisite for Global Affairs Canada and other funders which ensures that projects are designed to be gender-sensitive, promote gender equality, and address the needs of vulnerable populations.  

“The emphasis has been on building Mozambique’s in-house capacity to develop its own projects, as opposed to relying on consultants. We have been able to involve current students in this project, and we will incorporate ‘lessons learned’ into our teaching,” said Dr. Wood. 

Dr. Wood is passionate about exposing his students to real-life scenarios that will instill the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in their future careers.  

“If I can give my students opportunities to bolster their proposal-writing skills and potentially secure employment in international development, or as proposal writers for multilateral organizations or aid agencies—it is such an in-demand skill, they can really write their own ticket from there,” he said. 

To that end, he points to an MIF graduate, Brian Lisaka, a Mastercard Foundation Scholar from Kenya, who recently secured a job with the Green Climate Fund in South Korea, partly on the basis of the proposal writing training and other aspects of the MIF program. 

Reflecting on the experience of partnering with Global Affairs Canada, Dr. Wood is proud that the faculty of forestry and environmental stewardship now has an example of how its courses can be applied in the real world. This experience provided valuable feedback to continue enhancing the program. By actively prioritizing the agile, adaptable skills needed for a rapidly evolving future, Dr. Wood is not only committed to preparing his students for the market today, but also for thriving in their careers tomorrow.

Learn more about the Master of International Forestry program