Last week, the Forest Park Conservancy’s (FPC) Conservation Director, Alejandro Orizola, along with partners from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District (WMSWCD), and Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R), hosted a panel and some presentations to a delegation of climate change professionals from Africa.
The delegation included representatives from Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. It was facilitated by World Oregon and the US State Department, as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), where individuals are nominated by US Embassies overseas as current or emerging leaders in their field.
The event highlighted the global climate crisis and potential approaches and practices to the urgent threat posed by it that can be implemented on a local, city, and state-wide level to address this urgent threat.
After the panel discussions, participants and presenters had the opportunity to visit Portland’s own Forest Park, hike up the Lower Macleay Trail, and look at some examples of wildlife and riparian habitat restoration work.
This was a unique opportunity for FPC and our partners to foster mutual understanding, learn from other professionals working in climate change resiliency, and to bring attention to our work in Forest Park and the greater community.
Special thanks to Mary Logalbo with WMSWCD; Laura Tabor with TNC; and Liv Brumfield with PP&R, for joining us in this activity; and to Unico Properties LLC for facilitating a meeting room for this event at their Montgomery Park Building.