REPORT OF THE SECOND MEETING OF THE ASEAN SOCIAL FORESTRY NETWORK
(2nd ASFN)
27th – 29th August 2008, Bangkok, Thailand
INTRODUCTION
The Second Meeting of the ASEAN Social Forestry Network (the 2nd ASFN) was held on 27th – 29th August 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand.
2. The Meeting was attended by Delegates from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand. Due to unavoidable circumstances, Cambodia, Singapore and Viet Nam could not send their Delegations to the Meeting. Representative from ASEAN Social Forestry Network (ASFN) Secretariat, Regional Community Forestry Training Centre (RECOFTC) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and one representative from the ASEAN Secretariat also attended the Meeting. The list of delegates appears as ANNEX 1.
OPENING SESSION
Agenda Item 1: OPENING REMARKS
3. Mr. Chonlatid Suraswadi, Director of Community Forest Management Office, Royal Forest Department of Thailand delivered the Opening Remarks. In his speech, he welcomed the delegates to the Meeting and highlight that it is indispensable to enhance cooperation among Member States through the exchange of experience and information concerning the local wisdom of each Member States. He mentioned the importance to strengthen social forestry network among Member States. He also expressed the need to exchange information and update knowledge among Member States, in particular to the policy and programme implementation. His full remark appears as ANNEX 2.
element of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) to promote forest management involving the community living in and surrounding the forest for the sustainability of forest and prosperity of the people. This action under SFM element is in line to the ASEAN vision 2020 which, calls to promote the forestry sector as a model in forest management, conservation and sustainable development.
5. The Outgoing Chairperson of the First Meeting of the ASFN, Mr. Billy Hindra, delivered the Opening Remarks. In his speech, he thanked the Government of Thailand for hosting the Meeting and welcomed the ASEAN delegates to the Meeting. He expressed the significant achievements of ASFN since its First Meeting in Semarang, Indonesia. He also highlighted the need to strengthen ASEAN Social Forestry Network through the development of cooperation among Member States as well as Dialogue Partners. He thanked all ASEAN Member States for their support and cooperation throughout his chairmanship and urged all delegates of the Meeting to work towards further strengthening ASEAN cooperation in forestry, particularly on social forestry area. His Opening Remarks appears as ANNEX 3.
Agenda Item 2: ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE-CHAIRPERSON
6. Mr. Janesak Wichawutipong, Director of Community Forestry Promotion and Management Division, Community Forest Management Office of the Royal Forest Department of Thailand and Ms. Remedios S. Evangelista, Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) Division, Forest Management Bureau, Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines were unanimously elected as Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the 2nd Meeting of the ASFN, respectively.
Agenda Item 3: REMARKS OF THE ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF THE 2nd MEETING OF THE ASEAN SOCIAL FORESTRY NETWORK
7. In his Opening Remarks, the Chairman of the 2nd Meeting of the ASFN expressed hope for successful and fruitful discussions of the Meeting for the continued activities of the ASFN.
Agenda Item 4: ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Agenda Item 5: BUSINESS ARRANGEMENTS
9. The Meeting was held in plenary. Except the Agenda Item 12, “ASFN Collaboration with Partner Organizations”, the Meeting was held in open sessions. A Field Visit to the Community Based Forest Management in Ratchaburi Province was organized on the second day.
Agenda Item 6: PROGRESS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICY FRAMEWORK RELATED TO ASEAN COOPERATION IN FORESTRY
6.1 ASEAN Charter
10. The Meeting took note of the ASEAN Secretariat’s Information paper on the ASEAN Charter, which appears as ANNEX 5.
11. The Meeting noted that the ASEAN Charter was signed by the ASEAN Leaders during the 13th ASEAN Summit on 20 November 2007 in Singapore, to facilitate the realization of the ASEAN Community by 2015. Objectives of the Charter are to enhance regional integration by promoting the three main pillars of political-security, economic and socio-cultural cooperation through sustainable development, strengthened democracy, good governance and enhanced legal personality. The Charter makes provisions for strengthening the overall ASEAN’s organizational structure in order to facilitate effective implementation of ASEAN decisions and agreements.
12. The Meeting was informed that ratification of ASEAN Charter is in progress and to date, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Viet Nam have ratified nationally and the ratification of the remaining 3 Member States is underway. It is anticipated that the ratification process will be completed by the end of 2008, after which the ASEAN Charter will come into force.
Action Line: ASEAN Secretariat/ ASEAN Member States
6.2 Developments towards ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) 2015
13. The Meeting took note of the ASEAN Secretariat Information Paper on the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint which appears as ANNEX 6.
integration. In order to realise the ASCC, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers at their Retreat in Singapore on 20 February 2008 tasked the ASEAN Director-Generals (DGs) to take the lead in drafting the ASCC Blueprint in consultation with respective sectoral bodies, NGOs and civil societies. The draft ASCC Blueprint pertaining to forestry sector is covered under element D11 – Promoting Sustainable Forest Management (SFM). During the 11th Meeting of ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry (ASOF), the elements and actions line have been considered and agreed. The final draft of the ASCC Blueprint will be submitted to the ASEAN Standing Committee (ASC) for subsequent submission to the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) for further consideration.
Action Line: ASEAN Secretariat/ASEAN Member States
Agenda Item 7: MATTERS ARISING FROM THE 1st ASFN MEETING
15. The Meeting took note of the information provided by Indonesia as Host Country of the 1st ASFN Meeting held on 21 – 24 April 2007 in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. He highlighted the results of the Meeting among other Term of Reference, Rules of Procedures (ROP) of the ASFN and Strategic Plan of Action of the ASEAN Cooperation in Social Forestry (2007-2012). Full text appears as ANNEX 7.
Action Line: ASFN Secretariat
Agenda Item 8: PRESENTATIONS ON THE ASFN COOPERATION
8.1. Presentation by the ASFN Lead Country (Indonesia) on the ASFN Secretariat
16. Mr Billy Hindra, Director of Social Forestry Development, the Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia informed the Meeting on the development and operationalization of the ASEAN Social Forestry Network (ASFN) Secretariat. He highlighted among others the activities to support operationalization of the ASFN Secretariat, which include assignment of supporting staff to carry out duties and responsibilities of ASFN secretariat and provide in-kind contribution such as office space to support daily activities of the secretariat. He also mentioned the effort to strengthen ASFN Secretariat through identification of potential partners such as European Commission, UNDP, RECOFTC etc. Full presentation appears asANNEX 8.
Action Line: ASFN Secretariat/Indonesia
17. Mr Thomas Enters, representative from RECOFTC, delivered a presentation entitled “Social Forestry’s Contribution to Poverty Reduction”, which appears asANNEX 9.
18. He informed the Meeting the activities that RECOFTC concern with, which include capacity building, establish network, research, policy analysis, information centre (publications) and country projects. Presentation then looked at RECOFTC’s main themes on governance, climate change and conflict management. Mr. Thomas Enters highlighted RECOFTC’s propositions that might be further explored for future collaboration such as environmental services particularly Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation, exchange learning and information joint proposal to identify new funding.
Action Line: ASFN Secretariat
8.3. Outcomes and Decisions of the 11th ASOF Meeting, 31 July – 1 August 2008, Kuala Lumpur
19. Mr. Mohd. Alihanafi Mohd Yunus from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Malaysia updated the Meeting on the outcomes and decisions of The 11th ASOF Meeting held on 31 July – 1 August 2008 in Kuala Lumpur on the relevant matters concerning the ASFN. He highlighted key issues relevant to the ASFN which was noted by the ASOF from the ASFN Lead Country presentation during the Meeting, particularly on proposed MOU between RECOFTC and ASFN and the development of EC-UNDP proposal. He also informed the Meeting that ASOF has considered and agreed to the element and actions on the draft of ASCC Blueprint. His full paper appears as ANNEX 10.
Action Line: ASEAN Member States
Agenda Item 9: COUNTRY REPORTS ON THE ASEAN SOCIAL FORESTRY NETWORK (THE ASFN)
20. The Meeting noted the country reports from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, which appear as ANNEX 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.
joint bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation with the country; and (v) challenges on the implementation of Social Forestry.
22. The training needs identified by the representatives of ASEAN Member States are among others include training on facilitation of social forestry activities, and the planning, implementation, monitoring, marketing and management of Social Forestry Project. The representatives also considered the need to conduct and participate in conferences and workshops which are relevant to the social forestry issue.
Action Line: ASFN Secretariat/ASEAN Member States
Agenda Item 10: STRATEGIC PLAN OF ACTION OF THE ASFN (2007 – 2012)
23. The Meeting considered and adopted the updated Strategic Plan of Action (SPA) of the ASEAN Social Forestry Network (ASFN) based on the inputs, comments and presentations made during the Meeting, especially the Country Reports of the ASEAN Member States.The updated Strategic Plan appears as ANNEX 17.
Action Line: ASEAN Sec./ ASFN Sec./ASEAN Member States
Agenda Item 11: DISCUSSION ON ASEAN SOCIAL FORESTRY NETWORK (SUSTAINABILITY PLAN)
24. Ms. Sagita Arhidani from the ASFN Secretariat presented a discussion material on the proposed sustainability plan of ASFN. It was highlighted among others the main resources necessary for the ASFN, the potential resources as well as the need to establish and strengthen cooperation with Dialogue Partners, such as the RECOFTC, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), UNDP, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), ASEAN Center for Biodiversity (ACB), Asia Forest Network (AFN), the EC, and other partner organizations. The Meeting agreed to the need to develop a sustainability plan for the ASFN, which will be prepared by the ASFN Secretariat for consideration and comments by the ASEAN Member States.
25. The Meeting agreed to provide the required information for the purpose of the ASFN website pages and the development of Sustainability Plan of the ASFN. Full Presentation on proposed Sustainability Plan appears as ANNEX 18.
Agenda Item 12: ASFN COLLABORATION WITH PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
12.1 EC-UNDP PROJECT PROPOSAL WITH THE ASEAN SOCIAL FORESTRY NETWORK AND OTHER IDENTIFIED PARTNERS
26. The ASFN Secretariat updated the Meeting on the progress of EC-UNDP Project Proposal with the ASEAN Social Forestry Network (ASFN). The Meeting considered and endorsed the next steps concerning the development of this project proposal. It was highlighted among others the roles of ASFN in this project, which include active involvement to execute specific activities and as Regional Steering Committee of the project.
27. The Meeting noted the information paper that appears as ANNEX 19 on the development of the project proposal submitted for funding consideration by the EC to be implemented by the UNDP, SEARCA, ASFN, ACB and AFN, especially on the detailed budget breakdown and the proposed activities for the ASFN:
(i) At least one yearly Regional Conference on Local Forest Governance to be held back-to-back with ASFN Meetings;
(ii) Reflection Visits to Project Sites by the ASFN Leaders;
(iii) Publications on Local Forest Governance to be jointly published by the ASFN, UNDP and SEARCA.
28. The Meeting endorsed the proposal that had been considered by the ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry (ASOF) during the 10th ASOF Meeting on 12 – 13 July 2007 in Vientiane, Lao PDR and the 11th ASOF Meeting on 31 July – 2 August 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Action Line: ASFN Secretariat
12.2 PROPOSED MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU) BETWEEN ASFN AND RECOFTC
29. The ASFN Secretariat updated the Meeting on the latest status concerning the proposed MOU. The Meeting considered and agreed to the next steps in signing the MOU with suggested activities to be implemented under this MOU. This includes developing a proposal from the Concept Note submitted to funding donor.
30. Pursuant to Objective Four (4) of the ASFN “to promote and
develop support for the ASEAN Cooperation in Social Forestry”, the
Forestry in Southeast Asia that had been reported to the 11th ASOF Meeting on 31 July – 2 August 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, and agreed to the content of the MOU, which appears as ANNEX 20.
31. Taking into consideration Rule 4 of the Rules of Procedure (ROP) of the ASFN that the Lead Country of the ASFN shall:
(i) be responsible and report progress and development of the ASFN to the ASOF;
(ii) consult with Members of the ASFN on matters requiring immediate attention in between Meetings;
(iii) monitor the implementation of decisions taken;
(iv) take initiative, after consultation with Members of the ASFN in making funding arrangement to facilitate activities of the ASFN; and
(v) perform such duties as may be assigned by the ASFN from time to time,
the Meeting agreed that the ASFN Head of Delegation of ASEAN Member States report to the Chairman of the 2nd ASFN Meeting through the ASFN Secretariat within forty-five (45) days after the Meeting. The ASFN will consider this report to agree on the signing arrangement of the MOU that the ASFN Lead Country to sign the MOU between the ASFN and RECOFTC.
32. The Meeting considered the Concept Note submitted by RECOFTC under the proposed MOU for funding consideration of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to be further developed into full RECOFTC-ASFN proposal for consideration by the ASFN, which appears as part of ANNEX 20.
Action Line: ASFN Secretariat /ASEAN Member States
Agenda Item 13: OTHER MATTERS
33. The Meeting considered the proposal by Malaysia to have future Meetings of the ASFN beyond 2009 be held back-to-back with the Meetings of the ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry (ASOF) and agreed to further discuss this matter at The 3rd ASFN Meeting in 2009.
Action Line: ASEAN Member States
Agenda Item 14: DATE AND VENUE OF THE NEXT MEETING
date and venue of the 3rd ASFN Meeting will be informed to Member States by the Philippines through the ASFN Secretariat in due course.
Action Line: Philippines/ASFN Secretariat
Agenda Item 15: ADOPTION OF THE REPORT
35. The Meeting considered and adopted the Report of the Second Meeting of the ASEAN Social Forestry Network (2nd ASFN) held on 27th – 29th August 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
36. Delegates from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Philippines expressed their sincere appreciation to the Government and the People of Thailand for the warm hospitality accorded to them and the arrangements made for the Meeting. Member States also expressed appreciation to the ASEAN Secretariat for the assistance rendered. The Meeting was held in the traditional spirit of ASEAN cooperation and cordiality.
