ASEAN Social Forestry Network (ASFN)

PHILIPPINES THROUGH DENR-FMB HOSTS 3RD ASFN MEET

Some 30 delegates from Member Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), partner organizations and resource person are expected to arrive in the country as the Philippines through the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) plays host of the 3rd ASEAN Social Forestry Network (ASFN) Meeting to be held on June 9-13, 2009 in Subic, Zambales. The First and Second meetings were held respectively in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia in 2007 and in Bangkok, Thailand in August 2008.

The creation of ASFN comprising Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, strategic partners and stakeholders was initially deliberated during the ASEAN Workshop on Social Forestry in March 2005 in Madiun, Indonesia in recognition of the role that people living in and around forests play in forest management to attain poverty reduction and environment sustainability goals.

ASFN was formally endorsed for establishment during the Eight Meeting of the ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry (ASOF) in August 2005 in Cambodia. As the first inter-governmental social forestry network in Southeast Asia, ASFN envisions the strengthening of initiatives and cooperation activities in achieving sustainable forest management while improving the welfare of the community.

ASFN has four specific objectives, namely i) establish, operationalize, and strengthen the ASEAN Cooperation in Social Forestry; ii) promote policy and practices of community/social forestry in Member Countries; iii) establish and strengthen the ASFN information and communication system; and iv) promote and develop support for the ASEAN Cooperation in Social Forestry.

The meeting proper will be preceded, as Philippines' Side Event, by an assessment of implementation status of the country's Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) in relation to the strategic plan and contribution of upland development efforts to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The outputs will be presented to delegates and partner organizations on Tuesday, June 9.

The whole day of June 10 will be ASFN Side Event with the theme: "Promoting Social Forestry Role in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation." The organizers have taken the opportunity provided by the ASFN 3RD Meeting to further explore discussion on social forestry roles and that of ASFN in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The 3rd ASFN Meeting will formally open on June 11 with a keynote speech to be delivered by Director Marlo D. Mendoza who is ASOF leader for Philippines will likewise give welcome remarks to delegates and partner organizations. Opening remarks on the other hand will be delivered by Mr. Ali Wafa Pudjiono, Secretary of the ASFN Secretariat and Mr. Pralong Dumrongthai, ASFN Chairperson and ASFN Leader of Thailand.

Agenda for the Meeting include among others, reports on progress with regard to the implementation of policy framework related to ASEAN cooperation in forestry particularly the ASEAN Charter and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community blueprint, country reports on the ASFN and its strategic plan of action (2007-2012), sustainability plan for the ASFN, and proposed collaborative projects with partner organizations like the Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC) in partnership with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

There is a scheduled field visit to a CBFM site in Barangay Cawag, Zambales, a 30-minute trip from the hotel where the delegates are billeted, on Friday, June 12, to showcase Philippine social forestry practices to delegates and partner organizations. The site is being managed by the Cawag Upland Farmers Association, a 117-member people's organization (PO) engaged in agroforestry and tree plantation.

The Plenary whereby presentations and adoption of reports will be undertaken will be on the last day, June 13, 2009.