Course Report, August 2015
8TH EXECUTIVE FOREST POLICY COURSE
22 March – 3 April 2015
Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar
PEOPLE, LAND USE AND FORESTS IN THE ASEAN REGION:
POLICY CHALLENGES IN THE 21St CENTURY
COURSE REPORT
August 2015
1|Page
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
2
Background
Course programme
3
4
Introduction
Objectives of the course
Participation
Issues addressed
3
3
3
4
4
5
Opening session
Overall framework
Module 1: Societal changes, land use and forestry
5
6
6
Module 2: The environmental dimension: Climate change, biodiversity
loss and water crisis – managing forests to improve ecosystem services
Module 3: Production and trade of wood and other products
Module 4: The policy process – resolving conflicts in the use of land
and forests
Module 5: Effective communication for better forestry
7
9
11
13
Module 6: Governance, accountability and transparency in the forest
sector: building responsive institutions
15
Module 7: Rebuilding the forest capital: Restoration and rehabilitation
of degraded forest lands.
18
Module 8: Preparation of policy briefs
Field trip
Closing session
20
21
22
Evaluation of the course
General organization
Assessment of the different modules
Specific comments
o Potential impacts
Summary and recommendations
22
23
23
25
26
26
ANNEXES
I.
II.
III.
IV.
List of participants
List of resource persons
Programme of the course
Policy briefs
30
35
40
47
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BACKGROUND
Introduction
As elsewhere in the world forests and forestry in the ASEAN region are confronting multiple challenges
in the context of rapid social, economic and environmental changes taking place globally, regionally and
nationally. Stakeholders including governments, private sector, local communities and civil society
organizations have to quickly adapt to the accelerating pace of change and take advantage of the
emerging opportunities and prepare to deal with uncertainties. In a globalized world ecology and
economics seldom respect national and sectoral boundaries. To this end, there is a need to understand the
changing world and take proactive measures to craft a better future. ASEAN is one of the most dynamic
and fast growing regions in the world that has built a strong foundation for economic integration. ASEAN
is preparing for the multitude of changes in the context of the establishment of the ASEAN Economic
Community.
As competition intensifies to meet the increasing demand for food, fibre, fuel and a wide array of
ecological services required by the growing economies, forest policies will have to be continuously
reviewed and reformed and forest governance systems improved to fulfil the changing aspirations of
people. Building capacity to cope with the rapid changes and to craft a better future assumes
considerable importance. Almost all countries have stepped up their efforts to conserve forests and to
implement sustainable forest management (SFM). Some countries are on the path of forest transition,
investing substantial resources for restoration and rehabilitation of degraded forests. Yet many challenges
persist, requiring concerted action at all levels to make forests and forestry play a critical role in building
“green economies”.
Objectives of the course
Considering the need to strengthen human resource development FAO in partnership with other
organizations has been has been conducting policy focused short courses starting from 2008. These
courses are geared to address regional, sub-regional and national issues and to provide a coherent
framework to improve policy analysis skills. It is in this context that FAO in partnership with various
organizations organized the Eighth Executive Forest Policy Course, particularly focusing on the ASEAN
countries. Co-hosted by the Forest Department, Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry,
Myanmar, the course had the following objectives:
Analyze the implications of larger societal changes including globalization and localization and
the imperatives of current and emerging issues like climate change and how society is responding
to the multiple challenges.
Assess the future scenarios for sustainable forest management in the ASEAN region, particularly
focusing on their implications on policies, institutions and science and technology giving due
attention to the restoration/ rehabilitation of degraded forests.
Improve the ability to critically analyze policies and programmes impacting forests and to share
knowledge and experience.
Impart knowledge and skills in the use of various tools for policy analysis helping to augment the
capacity of participants to best practices in integrated land use in the pursuit of sustainable forest
management;
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Participation
In all 24 participants from 12 countries (see Table 1) attended the course (see Annex I for the list of
participants). Although the course was initially targeted
on participants from the ASEAN, as in the case of
previous courses it evoked interest from participants
from outside the region. Also although the course
advertised as designed for senior officials, it attracted
interest from a much wider group in terms age (see Fig),
experience and institutional affiliation.
Women
accounted for almost 40 percent of the participants. This
diversity in fact became an advantage and some of the
younger participants got an early exposure to the critical
issues in policy formulation and implementation.
While most of the participants belonged to public sector
forestry departments there were also
Table 1: Participants in the Eighth Forest Policy Course
those from civil society organizations,
Country
Number of
and academic and research institutions.
participants
This diversity of experience and
1
Bangladesh
background
provided a very rich blend
1
Cambodia1
enhancing the learning experience.
2
China
1
India
Issues addressed
1
Indonesia
3
Laos
The course was designed to provide a
2
Malaysia
unique learning experience to senior
4
Myanmar
officials dealing with policy analysis,
1
Nepal
formulation and implementation in the
1
Philippines
ASEAN countries. Some of the key
issues that the course attempted to
3
Thailand
address include the following:
4
Vietnam
Total
24
The overarching changes that
are likely to impact forests and forestry in ASEAN, and how the different scenarios are likely to
unfold.
Ongoing efforts to address environmental challenges, in particular climate change, loss of
biodiversity and the water crisis and their implications on forests and forestry.
Shifts in the demand and supply of wood and wood products and the need to improve governance
to combat illegality.
1
Due to a family emergency the Cambodian participant had to return home immediately after the commencement of the
course and therefore only 23 participants attended the course full time.
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Forest policy process that accommodates the divergent interest of different stakeholders and the
challenges in resolving forest related conflicts.
Governance challenges in the forest sector, including reinventing public forestry institutions to
make them relevant to the changing times.
Strategies and approaches to make communication more effective to secure the involvement and
commitment of all stakeholders in supporting multi-functional forest management;
Experience as regards the rehabilitation and restoration of degraded forests in the Asia-Pacific
and the policy, institutional, financial and technological challenges thereof.
COURSE PROGRAMME
The Eighth Executive Forest Policy Course consisted of eight modules providing an opportunity to learn,
discuss and share key issues related to forest policy formulation and implementation in a changing
society. Group discussions/ group work formed a key component of the entire course. Although the
focus was on the ASEAN countries, the course adopted a broader framework drawing upon forests and
forestry beyond the ASEAN. This is particularly so considering the impact of globalization on the
ASEAN economies and its consequences on forests and forestry. Details of the modules and the different
sessions under each module are outlined below:
Opening session
The course was opened by His Excellency U Win Tun,
Union Minister for Environmental Conservation and
Forestry, Myanmar and attended by key government
officials, FAO Representative to Myanmar and
representatives of the course partners. The Minister
expressed his appreciation to FAO and the other
course partners for choosing Myanmar, in particular
Nay Pyi Taw as the venue of the Course. He also
stressed the importance of the course, especially in
providing a broader perspective of emerging
opportunities and challenges and the opportunity it provides for sharing knowledge and experience of the
participants from different countries.
Speakers of the inaugural session appreciated FAO for its leadership in coordinating the Course and
Department of Forest of Myanmar for hosting the programme. It was informed that the Executive Forest
Policy Course was designed to improve
capacity
in
forest
policy
analysis,
development
and
implementation
as
recommended by Asia-Pacific Forestry
Commission in 2007. To date, seven such
courses have been organized in different
countries involving more than 100 senior
officials, decision makers and forest managers
from over 25 countries.
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Overall framework
CTS Nair provided an overview of the course and how the different modules/ sessions have been
designed. Right at the outset it was emphasized that discussions sharing the diverse expertise and
experience of the participants will form the foundation of the course. Soft copies of relevant articles and
reports were provided to the participants (see ANNEX IV). In addition to the lectures by experts who
helped to provide an overview of the issues considerable thrust was given for group discussions, role
playing and group work. Throughout the various sessions participants were encouraged to intervene and
to raise questions and share their views. The presentations made by various resource persons are
available at the APAFRI website and a CD containing soft copies of all presentations has been provided
to all the participants.
A brief description of the presentations under different modules and the key issues are outlined below:
Module 1: Societal changes, land use and forestry
This module focused on the current and emerging changes in forestry in the context of larger societal
changes and how they are impacting forestry at the national and regional levels. Drawing upon the
findings of the Asia-Pacific Outlook Study completed in 2010 and taking into account the subsequent key
developments, this module prepared the base to assess the larger picture of forestry evolving in the
region. This consisted of four presentations including group discussions as indicated below:
Forests and forestry in Myanmar: Meeting the challenges in the 21st century - Nyi Nyi Kyaw.
Green economy in ASEAN and its effects on forests - Hadi Pasaribu
Drivers of change and their implications on forests and forestry - Patrick Durst
Societal changes and the future of forests and forestry - CTS Nair
Nyi Nyi Kyaw, Director General, Forest Department, Myanmar provided an overview of forests and
forestry management in Myanmar. Forest
management policies and strategies in
Myanmar have been going through a
transformation process to promote private
sector
investments,
community
participation and provision of ecological
services, in particular biodiversity
conservation and watershed protection.
The Director General outlined how
forestry is adapting to fulfil the broader
economic and social objectives.
Hadi Pasaribu, Executive Director, AFoCo Secretariat dealt with the following issues in his presentation:
Green economy: Initiatives and concept;
Forest and green economy: ASEAN perspective;
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AFoCo’s vision and mission; and
Options to promote green economy in the
ASEAN
In particular Pasaribu underscored the importance
of (a) rehabilitating the vast extent of degraded
lands as a means of rebuilding the natural capital,
(b) fully tapping the potential of non-timber forest
products, and (c) promoting the provision of
ecological services including through PES
systems.
Patrick Durst outlined how forests and forestry are being affected and driven by factors outside the forest
sector. It was noted that what happens outside the forest sector will have much more profound impacts on
forestry than what is happening within the sector. The key take home messages from his presentation and
the group discussion during the session are:
Small and big changes will create a very different world in the future;
Obviously society’s demands on forests are changing continuously;
What happens to forests and forestry will be largely decided by what happens outside the sector;
Policies, legislation, institutions and technologies will have to help society in adapting to the
larger societal changes;
CTS Nair explained that human society is highly heterogeneous and different segments of society value
forests differently which make forest policy formulation process complex. In many countries the society
is composed of pre-agrarian, agrarian, iindustrial and post-industrial societies.These societies are also
evolving from one economic stage to another. Understanding the differences in societies and how they
change over time become important to understand how policies need to be crafted to deal with the
changing nature of resource use and to address potential conflicts. A “society-centric” rather than a
“forest-centric” approach is required to make policies relevant to the larger changes.
These sessions including discussions and group work enabled the participants to understand the larger
changes taking place in society and the need for an ‘out of box thinking’ in developing and
implementing land use and forest policies. It was emphasized that socio-economic environment is
changing at a fast pace and many of the problems in forestry stem from the inability to proactively deal
with such changes.
Module 2: The environmental dimension: Climate change, biodiversity loss and water
crisis – managing forests to improve ecosystem services
In almost all countries environmental concerns are receiving increasing attention, especially in the
context of continued loss of biological diversity, climate change on account of global warming, decline in
the quantity and quality of water and increasing land degradation. In many countries wood production has
been drastically scaled down or even stopped completely and more of the forests have been set aside as
protected area. There have been a proliferation of national and international policies and legislation,
giving primacy to the provision of forest derived environmental services. This module focused on some
of the critical aspects of provision of forest-derived ecological services especially in the formulation and
implementation of forest policies and the challenges in establishing trade-offs between the protection and
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production objectives. The following presentations provided an overview of forest related environmental
issues and their implications on forest policy formulation and implementation.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Climate change and forests: What has been done and what more needs to be done - Jennifer Conje
Forests and water: Myths and realities- Yurdi Yasmi
International agreements and national forest policies - Jennifer Conje
Market instruments and environmental services : Future of PES - CTS Nair
REDD+ - Developing policies and measures - Ben Vickers
Jennifer Conje outlined the impact of climate change on forests with a video presentation and then she
explained how climate change issues have been mainstreamed in forest policies and what more needs to
be done. These were further elaborated drawing upon the US Forest Service roadmap for addressing
climate change which has three components – (a) assess (risk/vulnerability, policy, knowledge gaps, and
management gaps), (b) engage (education, science – management partnerships, alliances) and (c)
manage (adaptation, mitigation, sustainable consumption). At the end of the presentation a group exercise
was done to assess how climate change issues have been integrated in the national forest programmes.
Yurdi’s presentation started with a group work on forests – water relationship, with each group providing
3 to 4 statements on the participants understanding of the issue. Following this the presentation outlined
the popular narratives and the scientific basis of these narratives. It was noted that there is a disconnect
between the popular narrative and the science of forest-water relationship and many of the popular
narratives have become myths. The presentation and discussions highlighted the need for making forest
policies more science based avoiding generalisations and ensuring that location/ site-specific factors are
taken into account in developing policies and plans.
In another presentation Jennifer Conje outlined the changes taking place in the international
environmental policy landscape and how it is becoming fragmented, especially in the context of multiple
global, regional and bilateral initiatives. It was noted that increasingly policies are being shaped/
influenced by civil society organizations and private sector and not necessarily by governments. Forests
and forestry are discussed in multiple fora and the increasing obligations are straining the national
implementation capacities. Apart from mainstream environmental issues – climate change, biodiversity
conservation, land degradation and desertification, etc. – forestry also figures in several other areas
including food security, trade, human rights/ rights of indigenous people and so on making the forest
policy landscape extremely complex.
Focusing on the issue of valuing ecological services and developing systems for payment for ecological
services CTS Nair outlined the current state of knowledge and the challenges in pursuing a market based
approach to address the various environmental problems. It was pointed out that payment for
environmental services are largely policy driven and are vulnerable to policy changes. The volatility of
carbon prices also suggests the limitations of a market dependent approach to the provision of ecological
services. It was noted that as such the scope for enhancing resources for SFM through PES is very
limited. Even in many industrial and post-industrial societies PES markets still remain undeveloped.
In the afternoon, Ben Vickers made a detailed presentation on REDD+ mechanisms. The underlying
principle is that developing countries are to receive performance-based incentives (payments) for
reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2) from forest lands and industrialised countries have to
provide adequate and predictable finance to support the payments. Countries, not projects, voluntarily
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report to the UNFCCC, and national bodies receive the incentives. However, so far there is no dedicated
fund allocated under the convention. It is expected that REDD + will be included in the Paris agreement
and be a part of green climate fund portfolio.
REDD+ has 4 Elements namely i) National Strategy or Action Plan, ii) National Forest Monitoring
System (NFMS), iii) Safeguards Information System (SIS) and iv) Forest Reference (Emission) Level
(FREL/FRL). It was explained that REDD+ Readiness offers an opportunity for countries to develop
objective, achievable, result-oriented strategies for investment in forest and land use sectors. REDD+
results-based payments will only fund those parts of the strategies that demonstrably result in emission
reductions. Ben Vickers shared the findings of a 2013/14 study conducted by the UN-REDD Programme
as regards country REDD+ readiness in selected Asia-Pacific countries.
Module 3: Production and trade of wood and other products
Historically wood production has been the main focus of forest management in most of the countries and
ASEAN has been an important source of industrial wood supplies. However increasingly forest policies
are giving greater thrust to the provision of ecological services and wood production has been scaled
down by way of logging bans and setting aside more forests as protected areas. At the same time there
has been an expansion of processing, especially pulp and paper and furniture. The module aimed to focus
on the shifting patterns of production and trade of wood and wood products and how this is impacting
forest policies. The key topics addressed under the module are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Production and trade of wood and wood products in the ASEAN - Dennis Neilson
Changing pattern of forest products trade - ASEAN and global trends - Tetra Yanuariadi
Forest law enforcement, governance and trade: Recent developments in the ASEAN - Tim Dawson
Forest certification and VPA: Where are we now and where are we heading to? - Bruno Cammaert
Technologies for tracking illegal timber- Kent Elliot
Mr. Dennis Neilson outlined the broad trends in the production and trade of wood and wood products in
the ASEAN. South East Asia (SEA) has 19% of global tropical forests and the largest supplier of tropical
forest products to global markets. For some of the key countries oil palm and rubber have already become
more important than forest products in terms of export income. China's imports of lumber from Southeast
Asia are primarily rubber wood and other plantation species. Up to 80% of Malaysian furniture is now
rubber wood.
Major issues in wood based industries and business
are corruption, shifting policies, land claims by
indigenous people, limited incentives, local
government interference and lack of credit. Policies
of most of the ASEAN countries in encouraging and
nurturing wood processing and exports are less
favourable than South American counties such as
Brazil and Chile. Furthermore, SEA trade figures
suffer from credibility problems. In many cases the
quantity reported to have been imported is far more
than what has been recorded as exported by the
exporting countries. Obviously illegality is a major problem that undermines genuine business initiatives.
9|Page
Tetra Yanuariadi provided a clear picture of the trends in the production and trade of tropical timber and
timber products focusing on the role of tropical forests in the global context, trends in production and
trade, implications of log export bans, market access for tropical timber and competitiveness of tropical
timber. Trends in timber production and trade indicate that availability and quality of large-diameter
tropical hardwood logs of primary wood species are declining. Major trade flows for primary tropical
timber products have been shifting from traditional markets like the EU, USA and Japan to emerging and
developing markets like China, India and Vietnam. Exports of SPWP comprising wooden furniture and
parts, builders’ woodwork, other secondary processed products and mouldings have surpassed those of
primary tropical timber products.
Tetra Yanuariadi also outlined the many challenges in
tropical timber trade. Impediments to market access
encompass both tariff and non-tariff measures.
Inconsistent and frequent changes in policies in
producing countries create uncertainty and loss of
confidence among the buyers. List of requirements in
tropical timber trade are long and expanding which
surely will have a bearing on the international trade in
tropical timber.
The presentation on FLEGT and recent developments in the ASEAN by Tim Dawson outlined the
evolution of FLEGT and VPA and the ASEAN cooperation in the forest sector. Providing the details of
the seven elements in the FLEGT action plan, Tim Dawson explained how the different components
jointly contribute to improved forest governance taking care of both the demand and supply side of wood
and wood products. Legality is being defined in a broader perspective and the VPAs are seen as an entry
point to encourage sustainable forest management.
EU has been trying to implement FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements since some time in Asia.
However, implementation of FLEGT & VPA initiatives is not even. No country has got FLEGT licences
yet. Different countries are in different stages. For example, China and India are in FLEGT dialogue
stage where as Indonesia is in the system development stage. Formal negotiations is under way in
Vietnam and Malaysia where as in Philippines it Introduction to VAPs stage. EFGT VAP process is
lengthy but necessary which also goes beyond addressing illegal logging and contribute to Forest, Law,
Governance, Trade issues. Tim Dawson concluded his presentation listing the following for discussion:
Legal timber is becoming a standard requirement in many large markets – What challenges do
small-scale operators still face in accessing and supplying legal timber and how to address
these?
VPAs are providing space for national discussions on governance issues, and giving civil society a
voice in the process – What forest governance issues would benefit from regional multistakeholder discussions and how could this be realised?
Concerns about forest loss increasingly focus on conversion to other uses – What can we learn/take
from FLEGT to help address wider land-use governance issues?
Kent Elliott highlighted the ongoing efforts to combat illegal logging. It was noted that 15 to 30 percent
of the volume of globally traded timber valued at USD 30 to USD 100 billion is illegally obtained. In
10 | P a g e
many tropical timber producing countries the volume of illegally procured timber could be as much as 50
to 90 percent of the total production. Illegality need to be distinguished at two levels, namely in the
forests when logging is done illegally and the tracking the movement of such illegally obtained timber.
Kent Elliott gave an overview of the range of technologies aimed to distinguish illegal timber from legal
ones. Available technologies include:
Automated wood identification;
Timber tagging;
DNA finger printing;
Forest monitoring through remote sensing and through participatory approaches.
Encouraging existing institutions to deploy new technologies, especially integrating them into existing
systems remains a major challenge.
Module 4: The policy process – resolving conflicts in the use of land and forests
This module addressed a number of critical issues involved in policy formulation, especially focusing on
how key initiatives have been implemented as in the case of Korea. Important presentations included:
1. Policy process: Theory and practice - Jennifer Conje
2. Restoration of degraded forests through social movements: The Korean experience of accomplishing
forest transition – Don Koo Lee
3. Managing forest conflicts- Yurdi Yasmi
4. Improved coordination and resolution of land use conflicts: The one-map initiative in Indonesia –
Kent Elliott
Jennifer Conje explained the processes of policy making which goes through four stages– policy
analysis, policy development, policy implementation and policy monitoring and evaluation. Additionally,
there are four steps in policy development: understanding the policy issue or problem, exploring possible
options for resolving the problem, weighing up the costs and benefits of each; and then, making a rational
choice about the best option. However, it was noted
that in reality policy-making is often non-linear. It is
incremental and complex and the political and
bureaucratic context have an overwhelming
influence on what kind of policies are formulated.
Identification of the problems seems to be the core
of the process and in most cases improper problem
identification remains the root cause of most policy
failures. Firm political commitment, transparency of
decision making process, multi-stakeholder
engagement, recognition of customary laws and
traditional rights and knowledge are key factors
contributing to effective policy formulation and
implementation.
Dr Don Koo Lee shared the inspiring experience of Korea in implementing forest rehabilitation and
restoration and reversing deforestation and degradation and thus accomplishing forest transition. At the
end of the Korean War, the forests in the country were in a highly depleted and degraded state. Increasing
11 | P a g e
demand for woodfuel further accentuated the problem. In response to this Korea initiated a massive
programme mobilising the public to undertake a forest restoration/ rehabilitation programme. Some 12
billion trees (or an area of 2.1 million ha) have been planted and nurtured increasing the forest growing
stock from 6㎥/ha in 1953 to 126 ㎥/ha in 2010. The main drivers that contributed to the success are:
1. Governance, in particular the stringent implementation of forest law and the establishment of the
Korean Forest Service in 1967;
2. People’s willingness, enabling all the Koreans to participate in the rehabilitation efforts;
3. Strong leadership, with the President making reforestation as a key national mission;
4. Saemoul spirit, based on diligence, cooperation and self-help;
5. Economic growth.
Don Koo Lee also outlined the on-going efforts to
implement the green growth strategy and the role of forests
in such a strategy. As an industrial and post- industrial
society much of the thrust is to use forests for their
environmental services, in particular amenity values. The
Fifth Forest National Plan (2008-2017) aims to establish
the foundation for green growth by increasing forest
resources, contributing to green welfare by creating green
spaces and develop green leadership to meet international
needs. A whole array of activities has been envisaged to
strengthen the link between forests and people. AFOCo –
Asean Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCo) spearheaded by Korea has imbibed the same
philosophy (see Figure above).
The Korean experience suggests that forestry policies should be regularly reoriented and be consistent
with
the
changing
societal
needs
and
priorities. Forests have
been associated with
every stage of life (from
cradle to grave). Now
forests
have
been
managed as health assets
(healing
forest,
recreation villages, etc.)
where 77 percent of
people undergoing longterm healthcare prefer to
stay in the healing
forests. Don Koo Lee
also highlighted that the shift has strong economic justification. An investment of USD 2.00 billion per
year is generating economic value estimated to be about USD 100 billion.
The presentation on forest conflicts by Yurdi Yasmi focused on the following:
Causes of conflicts;
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Severity of forest related conflicts;
The different phases of conflicts; and
Policy responses
Obviously conflicts stem from the differences in the perception of diverse stakeholders as most have their
own views as to how forests should be used/ managed. In the absence of consensus, some of the
stakeholders feel that their interests are not met. Forest related conflicts are particularly serious in Asia,
where about 75 percent of forests are reported to be affected by violent conflicts. Yurdi provided an
overview of the different phases of conflicts and underscored the need to take de-escalation steps in the
early stages itself. He also outlined the various responses to address conflicts of which tenure reform,
devolution and measures to involve local communities in forest management as important.
Kent Elliott of US Forest Service shared the experience of the One-Map-Initiative in Indonesia as one of
the tools to improve coordination and resolution of land use conflicts. Preparation of land use map by
different agencies based on their own needs without considering the interest and mandate of others has
been creating difficulty in planning and implementation of various development programmes. Also the
One-Map-Initiative creates opportunity for different stakeholders to sit together and discuss and decide
which area would be allocated for which purpose (conservation, concession, plantation, miming,
infrastructure, conversion to framing and settlement etc.). This helps to resolve differences before
starting activities on the ground. The comprehensive map can be a good tool for planners and policy
makers to make decisions and allocate resources ensuring that what they propose is not in conflict with
the interests of other users/ stakeholders. Obviously this requires strong horizontal and vertical
integration which is sometimes difficult or nearly impossible. The Indonesian experience suggests that
the task is neither quick nor easy due to its complex process and need to involve many players with
diverse objectives and priorities.
Module 5: Effective communication for better forestry
Effective communication plays a critical role in the development and implementation of forest policies;
however in the top-down approach that prevailed for a long time, communication remained a neglected
aspect. Increasing demand on forests for a wide array of goods and services in the context of diverse
perceptions and needs of people warrant significant improvements in the communication skills of policy
makers and planners. Establishment of trade-offs between competing demands and resolving conflicts
would require excellent communication/ negotiation skills. This module aimed to provide an
understanding of the different strategies/approaches to effectively
communicate with the major stakeholders of forests and forestry.
Caroline Liou, Manager, Strategic Communication, RECOFTC
provided a comprehensive account of the key issues involved in
effective
communication,
through
three
interconnected
presentations outlining (a) the changing concepts and approaches to
communication and their implications on forestry, (b) the future of
forestry communication in a networked world, and (c) making the
messages in policy briefs stick. She also made the session more
informal, interactive and informative through role playing, group
works and discussion.
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A game on information flow conducted by
Yurdi helped the participants to understand
how information gets distorted from one
recipient to another along the communication
chain. Longer the communication chain, the
more the chances of misrepresentation of
information. Prior to the preparation of any
communication materials, identification and
development of a clear communication
objective/s is necessary. Similarly, a SMART
(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic
and Time-bound) communication objective is
the foundation of any effective communication
planning.
Research, setting of objectives, defining audiences, developing key messages/call to action, budget and
timing, tools, pre-testing, evaluation are the main eight elements of a good communication strategy. Yet
pre-testing and evaluation have been rarely carried out in most of the communication planning process.
Key ingredients for an effective communication are messages, audience, medium, and time. Similarly,
different kinds of approaches can be effective in achieving different objectives. For example awareness
on most issues can be enhanced through one way communication like radio/TV programmes. However, if
the objective is to mobilise participation/ empowerment of people, a two-way approach is necessary,
enabling interaction and dialogue. Long reports loaded with information may not be effective in
attracting attention and mobilising action on the ground, and what is important is to provide messages
that will stick and catalyse action. It is important to know that people remember 10 percent what they
hear, 15 percent of what they read and 80 percent of what they see.
The session also helped participants to prepare policy briefs based on a clear understanding of its
objective, target audience, contents and structure. There is always limited time to convey policy messages
to policy makers. A policy brief can be effective if its objective is clear and the messages are short,
simple and straight forward. The elements of ‘stickiness’ – which includes social currency, triggers,
emotion, public, practical value, stories - should be identified and used in the preparation of
communication materials including policy briefs.
The session also examined the role of social media, a category of on-line media where people are talking,
participating, sharing, networking, and bookmarking. Around the globe, social media tools have helped to
fuel social movements. Social media has been shown to strengthen social actors’ ability to challenge and
change power relations in society, providing platforms for debate, reflection, influencing and mobilizing
people.
Forestry communication in a networked world would depend on the effective use of social media such as
face book, google+, YouTube, twitter, global forest watch, etc. Social media will also influence forestry
policy making and forestry communication as it empowers people by creating opportunities to voice their
opinion quickly, widely and openly. Social media has certain characteristics that other media do not.
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However, social media tools are not a substitute for real-world action, but a way to supplement and
strengthen it. Social media has the potential to improve forestry communications in Asia, especially in
areas like real-time forest monitoring, connecting smallholders to market prices; and mobilising people
for forestry activities.
Module 6: Governance, accountability and transparency in the forest sector: building
responsive institutions:
As resource use conflicts intensify and informal and illegal transactions increase governance and
accountability are severely compromised. Forest sector in almost all countries are prone to problems
stemming from poor governance and accountability. However the public is demanding better
accountability and transparency and it is imperative that these are improved. The module focused on the
challenges and ongoing national and international efforts to improve forest governance through the
following sessions:
1. Governance challenges in the forest sector CTS Nair
2. Future of public forestry institutions –
Tony La Viña
3. SAARC area cross-border timber trade, regional mechanisms and trade links with Myanmar: Some
results –
Sepul K Barua and Dhananjay Kumar
4. Leadership in public institutions Tony La Viña
CTS Nair’s presentation provided an overview of
governance challenges focusing on the definition
of governance, examples of good and bad
governance, principles and pillars of good
governance, measurement of governance and
governance improvement. Bad governance in
forestry has contributed to illegal logging, land
encroachment, illegal wildlife trade, wildland
arson, tax evasion, corruption, money laundering,
inefficient management of forests and so on. Often
rules and regulations intended to improve
governance have also created opportunities for corruption accentuating governance problems.
The key messages from his presentation are:
Governance challenges are expected to become more severe in the coming decades as pressure on
natural resources increase.
Governance is becoming more inclusive: Communities, private sector including corporate players
need to have a greater say in the formulation of policies.
There is a need to redefine and improve the regulatory framework to provide a level playing field and
develop effective mechanisms to arbitrate differences/ conflicts.
The system of checks and balances needs strengthening; and
Improve the access to information and openness ( For example citizen’s right to information, E.
Governance)
Tony La Viña provided an in-depth assessment of the challenges confronting public forestry institutions
focusing on how they have evolved, the challenges that are compelling them to change, the inevitability
15 | P a g e
of reinventing them, and the issues that need to be considered in change management. There are strong
compulsions on the traditional "command-and-control organizations" to shift to "coordinate,
communicate and connect" modes of operation. Many new players are entering the forest space,
challenging the role of traditional organizations, sometimes even questioning their very existence itself.
There have been waves of change that enabled new stakeholders to enter the forestry space forcing
forestry institutions to change. Considering the rapid pace of changes, the forestry agencies have no
option other than reinventing themselves. It is imperative to develop as convenor/ facilitator
organizations to shepherd all inputs involving all stakeholders and to be in the forefront of change.
Forest problems are linked to many national, regional and global issues. In most of the developing
countries the current structure of the forestry institutions are not appropriate to meet the current and
future challenges. There is an exponential change in knowledge, science and technology, both in hard
sciences like biology and in such areas as communications. Similarly new issues in environment
(biodiversity and climate change), economic trends (trade), and governance (transparency and
accountability), social issues (gender, diversity, equity, multi-disciplinary etc.) are emerging. The
forestry institutions need to imbibe and mainstream these changes to stay relevant and effective.
Remaining relevant will require a multidisciplinary approach, non-hierarchal management structures,
inclusive, transparent and accountable governance mechanisms, clear recognition of the rights of
communities and indigenous people and competent leadership to steer the change process. The
presentation outlined the following to pursue change in a systematic manner:
Change management strategy must be deliberately adopted;
Vision and mission need to be redefined;
Policy and legal reforms are unavoidable;
Organizational analysis needs to be undertaken through a participatory process;
Structures need to be reconsidered, again through a participatory process; and
Change should be brought about adopting a phased approach.
Tony La Viña also provided an illuminative presentation on leadership in public forestry institutions.
Most problems are “wicked problems” which tend to be systemic, interrelated encompassing multiple
dimensions and are of real-time nature offering little scope for trial and error. What is required is adaptive
leadership, able to have a holistic understanding of the problems, capable of intervening simultaneously
on many fronts and able to develop long term capacity. Some of the qualities of successful leadership are:
Ability to have a “balcony” perspective, distancing from the fray and observing how the actions are
impacting the whole system;
Ethical thinking;
Focus, rigour and delivery;
Learning ability; and
Ability to build consensus.
A leader need to have multiple capabilities and should be able to function as (a) servant, (b) enabler and
(c) artist as indicated in table 2 below:
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Table 2: Multiple competence of leaders
Qualities
Leader as servant
Leader as enabler
Leader as artist
Anchored flexibility
Politically savvy but
grounded in integrity,
honesty and service
Enables teambuilding,
motivating,
communicating and
facilitating for
bureaucratic reform
Humility and appreciation
for teamwork; Open to
new ways of thinking
Critical thinking and
action
Change management
Skilled in systemic
analysis and strategic
thinking; Adept in data
interpretation for decisionmaking; Skilled in
organizational, financial
and resource management;
Manages change process
Multi-disciplinary
orientation and
perspective; Reformoriented; Appreciation of
the need for diagnostic
knowledge and skills to
inform and enable action
Calibrated provocation
Conflict management and
resolution; Issue
management
Resolves and manages
conflicts
Maintains integrity of
vision despite realities
Commitment to social
justice and humanization
of social institutions
Knowledge of ethics,
moral reasoning process
Ability to discern and
reflect
Applies rigor and
discipline in working for
public good
Inclusive/ participative
decisiveness
Sense of initiative and
responsibility
Demands excellence and
higher levels of
expectations and
performance
Proactive
Sepul Barua and Dhanajaya Kumar presented the initial findings of their study on SAARC area crossborder timber trade and trade linkages with Myanmar. The study was undertaken with the objective of
assessing (a) wood products flow, timber trade and forestry issues in the SAARC region and (b) SAARC
region’s timber trade links with Myanmar.
India is by far the biggest timber importer and on the whole SAARC countries have huge and rapidly
growing trade deficit with Myanmar. Industrial roundwood was the key product imported from Myanmar.
SAARC countries have provisions to establish chain of custody and also law to counter illegal harvesting,
transportation and trade. Exports of logs have been banned in all the countries and, except Myanmar, all
countries are net importers of timber. Certification is not being considered seriously since barring
Myanmar no other country is exporting a sizeable quantity of timber and timber products. None of the
forest policies in SAARC countries are addressing illegal cross-country timber trade, however, the
custom acts have provisions for border checks, mostly focused on revenue collection. Open and porous
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land border along India with most countries is a major cause for illegal cross-country trade and
harvesting.
All SAARC nations are signatories of SAFTA Agreement and most timber products are included in it.
However, so far its impact on boosting timber products trade in the region has been limited. Indo –
ASEAN Free Trade Area Agreement includes most timber products which help to boost India’s
roundwood and sawn-timber import from ASEAN countries, though it could possibly hurt India’s
domestic paper industry. So far it is not clear what will be the impacts of Myanmar log export ban on the
SAARC region. There are various options, including sourcing timber from other countries or shifting
wood processing units to Myanmar. It is also unclear whether this could increase illegal timber trade.
Module 7: Rebuilding the forest capital: Restoration and rehabilitation of degraded forest lands.
This module, spread over two days, focused on many of the key issues involved in restoration and
rehabilitation of the vast tracts of forest lands in the ASEAN and other countries. The following
presentations provided a good overview of the issues and facilitated in-depth discussion:
1. Restoration and rehabilitation of degraded lands: An overview of the global and ASEAN situationDavid Lamb.
2. Rehabilitation efforts in the Asia-Pacific: Lessons from experience hitherto – Unna Chokkalingam
3. The landscape approach to rehabilitation of degraded forests David Lamb
4. Ecosystem approach to forest rehabilitation: Theory and practice –
David Lamb
5. Financing forest rehabilitationCTS Nair
6. Policy and institutional issues in ecosystem rehabilitationUnna Chokkalingam
7. Science and technology of forest rehabilitation:
CTS Nair
Rehabilitation broadly encompasses all types of afforestation, reforestation, plantations, enrichment
planting, assisted natural regeneration, agroforestry and forest landscape restoration. Forest rehabilitation
in the Asia - Pacific is primarily in
Box 1: Key messages on rehabilitation (From David
response to deforestation & degradation of
La b’s prese tatio )
resources, timber shortages, environmental
problems, local community needs, and
Reforestation is a relatively recent land use
increasingly for climate change mitigation
activity.
and adaptation.
In future:
o more emphasis on reforestation for
Large-scale reforestation began in the early
ecosystem services and not just timber
20th century, mainly to increase the supply
products
o Greater role for smallholders
of timber and improve employment in
This may need new forms of reforestation.
rural
areas.
However,
currently
Opportunities for reforestation will vary:
reforestation and restoration objectives
o Some places more difficult
have changed with provision of
o Other places more attractive
environmental services gaining importance
Reforestation is not always beneficial – can
(see Box 1). There is increased interest
sometimes have costs.
amongst smallholders for multi-species
plantings and increasing interest in
rehabilitation for ecosystem services as well as for timber production. The countries (China, India, Korea,
Vietnam, Brazil etc) implementing large scale rehabilitation/reforestation initiatives have been giving
more emphasis to ecosystem services. Reforestation/restoration has also been promoted by international
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agencies and organisations to pursue global environmental goals such as reduction of climate change
impacts, biodiversity conservation and combating desertification.
Importance of landscape based approach has been growing in the rehabilitation and restoration of
degraded forest lands. It has been generally accepted that landscape based approach provides better
opportunity to manage trade – offs, especially to optimise environmental and economic benefits from
restoration activities.
Despite the need to rehabilitate large areas, multiple challenges exist on the policy, finance, knowledge
and technology related fronts. There are also risks in undertaking large-scale reforestation and restoration
due to chances of land grabbing by private companies or elites, conversion of natural landscapes into
exotic monoculture plantation (Pinus, Eucalyptus, Acacia, Poplar, Tectona etc) etc. Right policy
environment such as strong political will and leadership, clear supportive policies & legal framework,
stable policy environment, clear tenure rights & other critical incentives, adaptive to emerging lessons,
effective implementation, effective enforcement are necessary for the success of rehabilitation of
degraded forest lands. This was brought out very clearly from the Korean experience of forest
rehabilitation as highlighted in the presentation by Don Koo Lee.
Resource mobilization remains a major issue for most of rehabilitation programmes. So far, most of the
resources for forest rehabilitation/ restoration programs have been coming directly or indirectly from the
governments or bilateral and multilateral agencies. However, sustainable flow of public funding in
rehabilitation is always uncertain. Realising the limitations of annual budgetary support many
governments have established dedicated funds to support rehabilitation and conservation efforts.
Increasingly in recent years private sector is playing an important role in rehabilitation/ restoration of
degraded forests. However, private sector investment is largely focused on wood production and there
are very few instances of private investment for multipurpose rehabilitation. Climate change and PESrelated opportunities and requirements are rising. But resource mobilisation through PES will continue to
face many challenges as markets for environmental services still remains undeveloped and many
conceptual and practical problems remain unresolved.
Based on the work done during the last many decades, there is a fairly good understanding of technical
aspects of rehabilitation. However, knowledge about restoration to multifunctional forests and farm lands
(for example home gardens) is still very limited. The silvicultural systems adopted hitherto may not be
suitable for future needs because the current plantation model is good for producing timber on an
industrial scale and hence may not be appropriate for reforestation by small farmers and for providing
ecosystem services (e.g. erosion control, watershed protection). Furthermore, the social science
dimension, critical in the adoption and application of silvicultural knowledge is largely missing.
Many changes have been occurring in forest restoration. In the future restoration activities will be shifted
from site based to landscape based approach, priorities will be more on ecosystem services than timber
production; and role of small holders and communities will be more important than government and
private sector. Thus policy, institutional and financial instruments and technologies and science should be
prepared to address these changing priorities and approaches. Most importantly, forest managers should
be able to convince policy makers and communicate effectively with wider stakeholders about the needs
and importance of degraded forest land restoration.
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Module 8: Preparation of policy briefs
In almost all countries policy makers are confronting the problem of taking decisions on complex issues
and will have digest a wide array of information from diverse sources within a very short time. Often
there is an overload of information as also misinformation by vested interests who would like decisions
that safeguard their interests. It is in this context that senior officials have to master the technique of
drafting clear, concise, short, factually accurate policy briefs that help policy makers to take timely
decisions on critical issues. This module was designed to enhance the capacity of the participants to draft
policy briefs on topical forestry issues.
On the first day of the course the participants were briefed about the importance of drafting policy briefs,
the process to be adopted (see Box
BOX 2: Steps involved in drafting policy briefs
2) and were provided with an
indicative structure of policy brief.
Identification of topic on which the policy brief has to be
The participants were divided into 5
prepared.
groups and each group was
Listing of critical decision issues: Generally policy briefs
requested to list three possible
address issues on which decisions have to be taken or views/
opinions are to be formulated.
topics. These were discussed and
Assemble and analyse available information.
finally each group selected one
Identify the various options and their implications on society
topic for preparation of policy
and the different groups.
briefs. The following are the topics
Short list implementable options
on which the participants prepared
Provide recommendations
the policy briefs.
1. Sustainable management of peat lands;
2. Improving the livelihood of local communities living in and near forest areas;
3. Promotion of family forestry: Reducing poverty through locally managed forests;
4. Making forest rehabilitation work for the people; and
5. Community based forest fire management
The different groups adopted a step-by-step approach in drafting the policy briefs and were regularly
guided in the process. On the last day of the Course the participants presented the policy briefs and the
various groups were briefed about the
overall quality of the policy briefs.
The final drafts of the policy briefs are
attached as ANNEX V. The policy
brief preparation process gave
participants a good opportunity to
think critically about the issues that are
important, write succinctly and
communicate effectively. The selection
of the policy brief topics indicates that
sustainable forest management will be
difficult to achieve without active
participation of local communities. On
the whole this exercise provided a good understanding of how policy briefs need to be drafted and many
considered this as one of the most useful components of the policy course.
20 | P a g e
Field trips
The Myanmar Forest Department organised two
field trips on 26 March and 29 March to provide an
idea of the state of forests and forestry in Myanmar
with the first one to the Yedashe Township,
Toungoo District and the second to the wood
processing industries near Nay Pyi Taw. During the
first field trip the participants visited township forest
nursery, teak plantations (under the Forest
Department as also by private sector, which is
becoming an important player in the plantation
sector), teak seed production area and the Phokyar
Elephant Camp. The visit provided a glimpse of
forestry activities in Myanmar.
Some of the key observations can be summarized as below:
Forest nurseries, although small, are well managed with several useful plants. Nurseries are mainly to
provide seedlings to local people free of cost. Currently forest department is not maintaining large
nurseries, since the government has been leasing out degraded forest lands to private sector.
The Yedashe Township area was a well
vegetated area with good teak forests. Now the
area is heavily degraded and encroached by
people. It was informed that some forty thousand
acres of forest land is under encroachment by
local people.
Needs of the local people have been considered
by distributing the products from the early
thinnings of teak plantations free of cost.
Teak Seed Production Area is being maintained
well clearly marking the plus trees. Plus trees
were also demarcated with different colour to be
used for research purpose. It is important to note
that local people are allowed to collect seeds
from the orchard which they sell to the forest
department.
The policy of leasing degraded forest land for
private sector investment in teak plantations is a significant development. However there is a need to
consider the long term economic viability of short rotation plantations especially if teak is to be sold
in global markets in competition with emerging producers (especially Latin America).
Social safeguards in forestry management activities such as free distribution of seedlings, thinning
products, collection and purchasing teak seeds from local people, provision of local employment in
private plantation areas, etc. are laudable.
Shifting the use of elephants from timber extraction to ecotourism activities is an impressive
initiative. Chances of Pho Kyar Elephant Eco-tourism Camp becoming a popular ecotourism
21 | P a g e
destination are good considering its scenic value, long and interesting history and nearness to
national capital.
Rehabilitation of forest encroachers through community forestry scheme seems an interesting
initiative. Each family is allowed to farm 3-5 acres of forest land and they are allowed to use the area
for agricultural crops on the condition of keeping a minimum 125 forest trees per acre.
On 29 March the participants visited Shew Tha Pyay Co. Ltd and the Pyinmana Wood Carving Centre in
Naypyitaw. This visit gave them an opportunity to know status of wood processing industry in Myanmar.
During the interaction with the general manager of the company, participants obtained an idea about the
source and types of wood used, environmental and social safeguards such as labour welfare, health and
safety, pollution etc, technology and equipment used, types of production and annual production,
marketing issues, profitability and future plans, etc. The unit visited is a family enterprise producing
furniture, door panels, etc. almost entirely for local use, mainly in schools and government offices. The
participants were informed that most of the wood processing units are shifting to less known species in
view of dwindling supply and increasing cost of teak.
Recent ban on the export of round wood/unprocessed wood and booming construction activities can
create significant opportunities to wood processing business. This could attract foreign investments in
wood processing business in Myanmar. However, it was pointed out that there is a need to make a
systematic assessment of the net impact of log export bans drawing upon the experience of such bans in
other countries. There are instances were export bans have not always led to positive impacts.
The visit to Pyinmana Wood Carving Centre indicated the potential to use local skills in building vibrant
small scale enterprises. Here again the underlying issue will be improvements in the policy, legal and
institutional environment providing an enabling environment for the development of such enterprises.
Closing session
The closing session was held on 2
April during which Nyi Nyi Kyaw,
Director General, Forest Department
awarded certificates to the participants.
In his closing address Nyi Nyi Kyaw
thanked FAO and the co-organizers for
organizing the policy course in
Myanmar and congratulated the
participants for successfully completing
the course. On behalf of the course
organizers Yurdi Yasmi, CTS Nair and
Sim Heok Choh thanked Myanmar for
extending all the help to make the course a very successful event.
EVALUATION OF THE COURSE
At the conclusion of the course, a questionnaire was distributed to all the participants (questionnaire
attached as Annex VII) seeking their feedback on the course. In addition to requesting the participants to
22 | P a g e
grade the different components of the course (from very good to very poor), they were requested to give
comments on what they found most useful, what parts of the course they found least useful and
suggestions to improve the course in future. Key findings of the assessment made by the course
participants are summarised below:
General organization
Participants evaluated the overall organization of
the course based on the following criteria:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Information received on the course;
Information on general arrangements;
Accommodation arrangements;
Meals, breaks and general comfort provided;
Venue arrangements; and
Opportunities for interacting with other
participants.
Fig 1 indicates the assessment of the participants as regards the overall organization of the course. It is to
be noted that 96 percent of the participants rated the overall arrangements as very good (39 percent) or
good (57 percent). No participant has evaluated any component of the arrangements as poor or very
poor.
Assessment of the different modules
Table 3. Assessment of different modules
S.No
Module
1
2
Societal changes, land use and forestry
The environmental dimension: Climate
change, biodiversity loss and water crisis
The future of wood production,
processing and trade
The policy process
Effective communication for better
forestry
Governance, accountability and
transparency in the forest sector –
Building responsive institutions.
Rebuilding the forest capital: Restoration
and rehabilitation of degraded forest
lands
Drafting policy briefs
Field trip
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Number of participants evaluating the module as:
Very
Good Fair
Poor
Very
Total
good
poor
5
16
1
0
0
22
2
17
3
0
0
22
3
19
1
0
0
23
5
7
18
15
0
1
0
0
0
0
23
23
7
15
1
0
0
23
8
13
2
0
0
23
8
10
15
12
0
1
0
0
0
0
23
23
23 | P a g e
Table 3 above gives an indication that overall the participants were highly satisfied with the different
modules offered during the course. No one has assigned an overall grade of poor or very poor to any of
the modules.
More than 82
percent of the participants have
evaluated all the modules as very
good or good.
Among the
different modules the policy
process (Item 4) and drafting
policy briefs (Item 8) seem to be
the most liked by participants
with 100 percent of the
participants judging them as very
good or good. Governance,
accountability and transparency
and effective communications for
better forestry are another two
modules receiving high rating
with 95 percent of the
participants considering them as
very good or good. Also the
participants expressed a high level of satisfaction as regards the field trip.
Assessment of different components of the course by participants
Putting together the grades that each of the 23 participants have assigned to the different components of
the course provides an overall picture of how the course has been perceived (see Figure below). Some of
the conclusions that can be drawn from this are:
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Eighteen participants (or 78 percent of the participants) rated all elements of the course as very
good or good;
Of the 23 participants five rated some of the modules as fair.
Two of the participants rated all the modules/ components as very good.
At the aggregate level 95 percent of the rating comes under the category of very good (27
percent) and good (68 percent) while only 5 percent comes under the category of fair.
No participant has rated any of the components of the course as “poor” or “very poor”.
From the above it is clear that overall the course was very well received. Of course there is still scope for
improvement so that the grading assigned moves up. Especially there seems to be scope for improving
modules 2, 3 and possibly 7.
Specific comments
In addition to rating the quality of the different modules/ sessions, the participants provided specific
comments as indicated below:
The course work and other arrangements were very useful in drafting the policy briefs;
Course work provided a good opportunity to
learn about the policies in other countries;
Learned a lot which could be adopted to the work
I am doing;
The course work arrangements were good and
useful. Guidance provided by resource persons
was most useful;
One or two days should be allotted entirely to the
drafting of policy briefs.
The Workshop organizers provided a USB which contains a lot of information and the time available
to read and digest them was inadequate.
Components of the course most liked
Participants were requested to indicate the course components they most liked. Obviously the
preferences were not consistent reflecting the varying perception of the individuals attending the course.
Some of the most liked components are:
1. Preparation of the policy briefs;
2. Policy process;
3. Restoration and rehabilitation of
degraded forests;
4. Governance, accountability and
transparency;
5. Effective communications;
6. Field trip
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Components least liked
The participants also gave an indication of the course components that were least liked as indicated
below:
On the whole the course was too dense and there were too many presentations;
SAARC forest products trade;
REDD+ and climate change;
FLEGT, Forest Certification, VPA
Future of wood production
Suggestions about future courses
The participants were requested to provide their suggestions in improving future policy courses and many
provided their views as indicated below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The course should focus on policy formulation.
The time for lectures and their numbers should be reduced and more time allowed for discussion.
There should be more discussion on land use and how countries are pursuing the policy process.
There is a need to share more of the experience relating to policy process in developing countries.
The course should include presentation skills
Potential impacts of the course
The participants were requested to indicate what they will do differently taking into account what they
have learned during the course. Some of the responses to this are indicated below:
Will look at forestry from a broader perspective and adopt a broad-based approach in dealing with
forestry issues;
Will contribute in a better way to the on-going forest policy formulation process;
Prepare a draft decree to strengthen rehabilitation of degraded forests,
Will think carefully and bring in all aspects in decision-making;
Will prepare policy briefs in a better way.
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
On the whole the Eighth Executive Forest Policy Course could also be rated as a highly successful event
as in the case of the Sixth and Seventh Policy Courses held in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Almost all the
participants and resource persons expressed their satisfaction and appreciated the opportunity they
obtained to share their experience, learn about recent developments, assess critically the emerging
opportunities and challenges and identify what may be done to improve the situation. The interactive
format adopted has been extremely effective generating considerable enthusiasm and commitment among
the participants. Several factors have contributed to the effectiveness of the programme as indicated
below:
1. Participants were informed in advance on the nature of the course underscoring that the course will
be largely based on sharing their experience. This in a way mentally prepared the participants and
some actually identified problems for discussion and drafting the policy briefs prior to their arrival.
26 | P a g e
2. A very good mix of participants with differing profiles of experience (both in terms of the length and
diversity of experience). A combination of long experience of some of the senior participants
combined with the enthusiasm of younger groups created a very dynamic environment.
3. Highly experienced resource persons;
4. Excellent facilities provided by the Myanmar Forest Department and the flawless logistical
arrangements made by APAFRI.
5. Strong support from sponsors with 100 percent of the participants being funded by various agencies.
Continuation of the policy course
The Executive Forest Policy Course has evolved as a very useful initiative providing a unique
opportunity for sharing knowledge and experience and updating forestry professionals on key
developments that impact forest policies at the global, regional and national levels. The fact that several
organizations have come forward to sponsor participants is a clear indication of how the course is
perceived by the participants as also by the various organizations. Almost all participants clearly
indicated a high level of satisfaction with the course. No other organization is providing such an
opportunity to discuss various critical issues in a comprehensive manner. Hence there is a strong
justification for continuation of the Executive Forest Policy Course as a regular annual programme.
Need for an in-depth evaluation
Having said this it is important to undertake an in-depth evaluation of the last three courses to identify
what needs to be done to improve the course, including the topics to be covered, the approach to
conducting the course, and the system of evaluation of each course. An auto-evaluation including a
sample survey of the participants who attended the course focusing on the impact of the course on them
would be of help to identify the areas that need improvement.
Some suggestions for improvement
Some of the areas that require some rethinking are indicated below:
There is scope for reducing the number of resource persons and their presentations. As such there is a
feeling that a large number of presentations by different resource persons are overloading the
absorptive capacity of the participants, especially as this reduces the time for in-depth discussions.
Also in some cases the linkage between the different presentations is not quite clear.
With a smaller number of resource persons a more issue focused approach could be adopted. As such
the range of issues brought out seldom permits in-depth discussion and many issues are not subjected
to detailed analysis. Obviously a more structured approach to discuss the various issues will be
helpful to improve the policy analysis capabilities.
Experience hitherto indicates the high level of usefulness of the policy brief preparation exercise.
There is considerable scope for improving this component, revisiting the approach adopted and
giving more time as gas been suggested by some of the participants. Improvements could be brought
about as indicated below:
o Hitherto course participants had to identify the topics themselves and this took considerable
time. In the real world situation policy briefs are to be prepared on topics/ issues as required
by the decision makers. Hence it is advantageous to develop a short list of issues/ topics in
27 | P a g e
o
o
advance and allow the participants to choose from this list, rather than allowing them to
invent the topic.
Provide necessary reading materials for the selected topics/ issues. Once the topics have been
pre-identified, it should not be a problem to prepare the essential reading materials and
provide them to the participants.
Allocate adequate time for the preparation of policy briefs. As such this gets relegated to the
last session by which time the participant’s energy and enthusiasm starts tapering off.
Probably there is justification to allocate more “prime-time” for this important exercise.
28 | P a g e
ANNEXES
29 | P a g e
ANNEX I
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
Ms Wang Hong
Director of Finance
Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation
(APFNet)
6 Floor, Baoneng Building A, No.12, Fu Tong Dong Da Jie
Wang Jing Area, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100102
P. R. China
Phone: 86-10-84215796
Fax: 86-10-84216958
Email: wang_hong@apfnet.cn
Ms Pan Yao
Program Officer
APFNet Kunming Training Center
300# Bailongsi, Kunming City 650224, Yunnan Province
P.R. China
Phone: (0871) 6386 2840
Email: apfnetktc@apfnet.cn
Ms. Nay Sikhoeun
Forest Demarcation Registration and Forestland Use
Cambodia
Email: naysikhoeun@gmail.com
Mr. Sumantri
Deputy Director of Forest Fire Control for Programs and Evaluation
Ministry of Environment and Forestry, The Republic of Indonesia
Indonesia
Phone: 62-21-5704618, 62-812 1332524
Email: tri9ng@yahoo.com
Phomma Pathoummavong
Acting Head of Forest Technique Standard Division
Department of Forestry
Lao PDR
Phone: 856-20 55601729, off 856-21222534
Email: p.pathoummavong@yahoo.com
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Mr. Mohammed Kassim Bin Wasli
Assistant Director of Management & Planning Division
Forestry HQs, 8th. Flr., Wisma Sumber Alam, Stadium Road, 93660 Kuching,
Sarawak
Malaysia
Phone: 06-082-319232
Email:mohdkw@sarawak.gov.my
Ms. Fe C. Oliveros
Chief, Forest Policy Section
Forest Management Bureau-Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Philippines
Phone: +63-2-926 2141
Fax: +63-2-928 9313
Email: fe_carpio@yahoo.com
Mr. Korn Manassrisuksi
Director of Forest Geo-Informatics Division
Forest Land Management Bureau, RFD
Thailand
Phone: +66-81-485 0554
Email: korn45@gmail.com
Mr. Le Van Cuong
Vice Head
Division of Natural Resources and Environment Economics
Vietnam
Phone: 84 975 546983
Email: cuonglv.fsiv@gmail.com
Mr. Kyaw Kyaw Lwin
Director
No. 39, Forest Department, Nay Pyi Taw
Myanmar
Phone: 95 9 2001393
Email: kyawkyawlwin189@gmail.com
Dr (Ms.) Kinnalone Phommasack
Deputy Director
REDD+ Office, Department of Forestry, MAF, Thaddam Road, Chanthabuly
District, Vientiane
Lao PDR
Phone: (856)20 2200 6777
Fax: (856) 21 563 002
Email: kinnalone.ph@gmail.com
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Mr. Balu Perumal
HOD Conservation
Malaysian Nature Society
JKR 641, Jalan Kelantan
Bukit Persekutuan
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Phone : 03-22873304/9422
Fax : 03-22878773
Email: hod.conservation@mns.org.my
Ms.Tanirat Tanawat
Project Manager
Thailand Environment Institute (TEI)
16/151 Muang Thong Thani, Bond Street
Bangpood, Pakkred
Nonthaburi 11120
Phone: (+66) 2 5033333 ext 213
Email: tanirat@tei.or.th, tanirat.tana@gmail.com
Ms. Duong Thi Lien
Project Coordinator
Research Institute for Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Certification
(SFMI)
114 Hoang Quoc Viet Str.
Cau Giay District, Hanoi
Vietnam
Phone: 84 915 003935
Email: duongtlien@gmail.com
Dr Omprakash Madguni
Faculty, Ecosystem and Env. Management
Indian Institute of Forest Management
Nehrunagar, P. Box: 357
Bhopal, Pin: 462003
India
Phone: +917 55241 4756 (Resi.), +917 55277 5716 (Off.)
Email: prakash@iifm.ac.in, omprakashiifm@gmail.com
Ms Sidavone Chanthavong
Assistant to National Project Coordinator
SUFORD Scaling-up Project
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Forestry Department
Lao PDR
Mobile: +856 20 54846221
Email: sidavone.chanthavong@yahoo.com
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Mr Tawatchai Rattanasorn
Programme Manager
IUCN Thailand
63, Soi Prompong
Sukhumvit Soi 39, Wattana
10110 Bangkok
Thailand
Tel: + 66 81 972 0472
Email: Tawatchai.rattanasorn@iucn.org
Ms. Vu Thi Bich Hop
Executive Director
Center for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD)
No 56, Lane 19/9 Kim Dong street, Hoang Mai district, Hanoi
Vietnam
Phone: (84-4) 39 43 66 78 ext: 306 (Office)
Email: hop@srd.org.vn
Md Tariqul Islam
Assistant Chief Conservator of Forests Development Planning Unit,
Office of the Chief Conservator of Forests,
Banbhalean, Agargaon, Dhaka 1207
Bangladesh
Phone: 88 02 818147
Email: tarik.forest@gmail.com
Mr Mohan KC
Assistant Forest Officer
REDD Implementation Center
Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation
Nepal
Phone: +977 985 1130557
Email: mohankc.forestry@gmail.com, mohankc@mofsc_redd.gov.np
U Bo Ni
Director
Forest Department
MOECAF
Myanmar
Phone: 095164731, 067405115
Email: uboni.mgv@gmail.com
Ms Vu Le Y Voan
Vice-Director of International Cooperation Department (ICD) of VNFU,
Facilitator of FFF in Vietnam
Viet Nam Farmers’ Union( VNFU)
No 9 Ton That Thuyet street
Ha Noi
Vietnam
Tel:0084-4-37958043
Fax: 0084-4-37958049
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Email: voanvnfu@yahoo.com
Mr. Than Soe Oo
Programme Manager
Myanmar Environment Rehabilitation-conservation Network (MERN),
Member of Community Forestry National Working Group (CFNWG)
Room 302, Building 212-213, Sabal Marga Street, Hanthar Yeikmon Housing,
Ward 5, Kamayut Township, Yangon
Myanmar
Phone: 095-9-33608339, 095-9-440 33065
Email: thansoeoo2011@gmail.com
U Mahn Win Tin
General Manager (Extraction)
Myanmar Timber Enterprise
Gyogone, Imsein Township, Yangon
Myanmar
Phone: 095-09-5252796
Email: dgmext_mte@moecaf.gov.mm
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ANNEX II
LIST OF RESOURCE PERSONS
Franz-Eugen Arnold
REDD+ Technical Adviser (NFMS & RELs)
FAO of the United Nations
Forest Department, Building No. 39
Nay Pyi Taw
Myanmar
Mobile: 09 260 378 269
Email: franz.arnold@fao.org
Sepul Kanti Barua
Consultant- Forest Economics and Policy
Indufor Oy, Töölönkatu 11 A
FI-00100 Helsinki
Finland
Phone: +358 9 684 0110
Mobile: +358 50 564 4218
Fax: +358 9 135 2552
Email: sepul.barua@indufor.fi
Prabhu Budhathoki
Chief Technical Adviser
FAO Representation in Bangladesh
House #37, Road #8
Dhanmondi Residential Area
Dhaka-1205
Bangladesh
Phone: +88 02 811 8015-8
Fax: +88 02 811 3446
Email: prabhu.budhathoki@fao.org
Bruno Cammaert
Forestry Officer
EU FAO FLEGT Programme, Asia-Pacific
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Athit Road
Bangkok 10200
Thailand
Phone: +66 2 6970000 Ext. 4260
Email: Bruno.Cammaert@fao.org
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Unna Chokkalingam
Senior Forestry and REDD+ Expert
Jakarta
Indonesia
Mobile: +62 8118123274
Email: u.chokkalingam@gmail.com
Skype: unnach
Jennifer Conje
Senior Policy Advisor
US Forest Service
1 Thomas Circle, NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005 USA
Phone: +1 202 644 4624
Email: jconje@fs.fed.us
Tim Dawson
Senior FLEGT Expert
European Forest Institute (EFI)
c/o Embassy of Finland
5th Floor , Wisma Chinese Chamber
258 Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Mobile: +60 12 367 0269
Fax: +603 42511245
Email: tim.dawson@efi.int
Patrick Durst
Senior Forestry Officer
FAO of the United Nations
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200
Thailand
Phone: +66 2 6974000
Fax: +66 2 6974000
Email: patrick.durst@fao.org
Kent Elliott
Asia Program Specialist
USDA Forest Service
International Programs
1 Thomas Circle, NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: +1 202 644 4571
Fax: +1 202 644 4603
Email: kmelliott@fs.fed.us
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Dhananjaya Kumar
Managing Director
NH Consulting PVT. LTD.
104 D, 2nd Floor, Shanti Kunj Main, Gate No. 2
Ram Mandir Marg, Vasant Kunj
New Delhi – 110070
India
Phone: +91 9818505713
Email: nhc10@hotmail.com
Antonio Gabriel M. La Viña
Dean, Ateneo School of Government
Ateneo De Manila University
Pacifico Ortiz Hall, Katipunan Ave, QC 1108
Philippines
Tel:(+632) 426 4279
Mobile: (+63-928) 503 51 54
Fax: (+632) 426 5997
Email: tonylavs@gmail.com
David Lamb
University of Queensland
Brisbane
Australia
Phone: +617 33786547
Email: d.lamb@uq.edu.au
Don Koo Lee
Endowed Chair Person
Park Chung Hee School of Policy & Saemaul
Yeungnam University
280 Daehak-ro, Gyeongsan
Gyeongsangbuk-do 712-749
Republic of Korea
Phone: +82-53-810 1318
Fax: +82-53-810 2055
Email: leedk@snu.ac.kr, donkoolee@ynu.ac.kr
Caroline Liou
Manager, Strategic Communication
RECOFTC
P.O. Box 1111, Kasertsart Post Office
Bangkok 10903
Thailand
Phone: +66 (0) 2 940 5700 Ext. 1236
Fax: +66 (0) 2 561 4880
Email: caroline.liou@recoftc.org
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CTS Nair
Sivagiri
Muthukad Puthenveedu
P:O Naduvath
Wandoor, Kerala 679328
India
Phone: 91-4931249495
Cell: 91-9995305542
Email: ctsnair47@gmail.com
Dennis Nielson
Director
DANA Limited
P.O. Box 392
Rotorua
New Zealand
Phone: +64 7 3492764
Fax: +64 7 3492763
Email: dana@dana.co.nz
Nyi Nyi Kyaw
Director General
Forest Department
Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry
Building No. 39, Nay Pyi Taw
Myanmar
Tel: +95 67 405400
Fax: +95 67 405427
Email: nnkforest@gmail.com
Hadisusanto Pasaribu
Executive Director
ASEAN-ROK Forest Cooperation Secretariat
8th Floor, 9 Gukhoe-daero 62-gil
Yeongdeungpo-gu
Seoul 150-874
Republic of Korea
Phone: +82-2-785-8962
Email: contact@afocosec.org
Sim Heok Choh
Executive Secretary
Asia Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institutions (APAFRI)
c/o Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM)
52109 Kepong, Selangor
Malaysia
Phone: +603 62797536
Email: simhc@frim.gov.my, sim@apafri.org
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Thaung Naing Oo
Director, Forest Research Institute Yezin
Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry
Bldg (39), Forest Department
Nay Pyi Taw
Phone: +95 67 416524
Fax: +95 67 416523
Email: tnoo71@gmail.com
Ben Vickers
Regional Programme Officer
UN-REDD
FAO of the United Nations
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200
Thailand
Phone: +66 2 697 400 ext. 4301
Email: ben.vickers@fao.org
Tetra Yanuariadi
Projects Manager
Division of Trade and Industry
International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)
International Organizations Center, 5th Floor
Pacifico-Yokohama, 1-1-1, Minato-Mirai
Nishi-Ku, Yokohama 220-0012
Japan
Phone: +81 (0) 45-223-1110
Fax: +81 (0) 45-223-111
Yurdi Yasmi
Forestry Officer (Policy)
FAO of the United Nations
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200
Thailand
Phone: +66 2 697 4000 ext. 4136
Fax: +66 2 697 4445
Email: Yurdi.Yasmi@fao.org
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ANNEX III
Eighth Executive Forest Policy Course, 22 March – 3 April 2015, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar
People, Land use and Forests in the ASEAN:
Policy Challenges in the 21st Century
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME
Sunday 22 March 2015 - Arrival and registration of participants
DAY 1: Monday 23 March 2015
Opening ceremony and introduction to the course
Module 1: Societal changes, land use and forests in the ASEAN: The unfolding future
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
Time
Agenda/ Topic
Presenter/ Facilitator
0730 - 0900
Registration
APAFRI/ Forest Department
0900 - 1000
Icebreaker – Getting to know each
other
Yurdi Yasmi/ CTS Nair
Introduction to the course
CTS Nair
1000 - 1030
Forests and forestry in Myanmar:
Meeting the challenges in the 21st
century
Nyi Nyi Kyaw, Director General,
Forest Department
1030 - 1100
Coffee Break
1100 - 1200
Green economy in ASEAN and its
effects on forest resources
1200 – 1300
Hadi Pasaribu
Lunch break
Opening ceremony
1300 - 1400
Welcome remarks
Introductory remarks
H E Union Minister U Win Tun,
Ministry of Environmental
Conservation and Forestry (To be
confirmed)
Patrick Durst, FAO
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Bui Thi Lan, FAO
Remarks by partners
Hadi Pasaribu, AFoCo
Vote of thanks
Sim Heok Choh, APAFRI
Group photo
Refreshment
1400 – 1500
1500 – 1545
Drivers of change and their
implications on forests and forestry
in the ASEAN
Societal changes and the future of
ASEAN forests and forestry
1545 - 1600
1600 – 1730
1800 - 2030
Patrick Durst
CTS Nair
Tea break
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs –
Introduction to the module and
identification of topics
Yurdi Yasmi/ CTS Nair
Welcome dinner
DAY 2: Tuesday 24 March 2015
Module 2: The environmental dimension: Climate change, biodiversity loss and water
crisis - Managing forests to improve ecosystem services.
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
0830 - 0845
0845 - 0900
0900 - 1030
1030- 1100
1100 - 1200
1200 - 1300
1300 - 1400
1400 - 1500
1500 - 1530
1530 - 1630
Recap of issues discussed on Day 1
Introduction
Climate change and forests: What
has been done and what more needs
to be done?
Coffee break
Forests and water: Myths and
realities
International environmental
agreements and national forest
policies.
Lunch
Market instruments and
environmental services: Future of
PES
Coffee break
The future of REDD+ - Opportunities
Selected Participants
CTS Nair
Jennifer Conje
Yurdi Yasmi
Jennifer Conje
CTS Nair
Ben Vickers
41 | P a g e
1630 - 1730
and challenges
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
Yurdi Yasmi/ CTS Nair/ Sim Heok
Choh
Day 3: Wednesday 25 March 2015
Module 3: The future of wood production, processing and trade in the ASEAN
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
0830-0845
Recap of issues discussed on Day 2
Selected Participants
0845- 0900
Introduction to the module
CTS Nair
0900 – 1030
Dennis Neilson
1730 - 1800
Production and trade of wood and
wood products in the ASEAN
Coffee break
Changing pattern of forest products
trade- ASEAN and global trends
Forest Law Enforcement,
Governance and Trade: Recent
developments in the ASEAN
Lunch
Forest certification and VPA: Where
are we now and where are we
heading to?
Coffee
Panel discussion: The future of
wood industry in the ASEAN: Is it
becoming a sun-set industry in the
Region?
Technologies for tracking illegal
timber
Briefing on field trip
1800 - 1830
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
CTS Nair/ Yurdi Yasmi/Sim Heok
Choh
1030-1100
1100 -1200
1200 - 1300
1300 -1400
1400 - 1500
1500 -1530
1530 -1630
1630 - 1730
Tetra Yanuariadi
Tim Dawson
Bruno Cammaert
Dennis Neilson/ Tetra Yanuariadi/
Bruno Cammaert/ CTS Nair/
Patrick Durst
Kent Elliot
Thaung Naing Oo
Day 4: Thursday 26 March 2015
Field trip: Forest policies on the ground
AM
PM
Management of natural teak
Forest Department
forests.
Management of teak plantations
Local community participation in
forest rehabilitation
Rehabilitation of degraded forest Forest Department
lands
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Day 5: Friday 27 March 2015
Module 4: The policy process: Resolving conflicts in the use of land and forests in the
ASEAN
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
0830 -0845
Recap of issues discussed on Day 3
Selected participants
0845 - 0900
Introduction to the module
CTS Nair
0900 - 1030
Policy process- Theory and practice
Jennifer Conje
1030 - 1100
Tea/ Coffee break
1100 - 1300
Restoration of degraded forests
through social movements: The
Korean experience of accomplishing
forest transition
1300 - 1400
Lunch
1400 - 1500
Improved coordination and
resolution of land use conflicts – The
One-Map initiative in Indonesia
Tea/ Coffee break
Kent Elliot
Managing conflicts in policy
formulation and implementation
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
Jennifer Conje/ Yurdi Yasmi
1500 - 1530
1530-1630
1630 - 1730
Don Koo Lee
CTS Nair/ Yurdi Yasmi/ Sim Heok
Choh
Day 6: Saturday 28 March 2015
Module 6: Effective communication for better forestry
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
0830 - 0845
Recap of issues discussed on Day 5
Course participants
0845 - 0900
Introduction to the module
CTS Nair
0900-1030
Changing concepts and approaches
to communication and their
implications on forestry
Tea\Coffee break
Caroline Liou
1030-1100
1100 - 1200
1200 - 1300
1300 - 1400
1400 - 1500
The future of forestry in a networked Caroline Liou
world
Making the messages in policy briefs Caroline Liou
stick
Lunch break
World Cafes: Sharing experience on
policy process
Yurdi Yasmi
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1500 -1530
1530 -1730
Tea\Coffee break
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
CTS Nair/ Yurdi Yasmi/ Sim Heok
Choh
Day 7: Sunday 29 March 2015
AM
Field trip covering:
PM
Farm forestry and agroforestry
in Myanmar
Wood processing
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
Forestry Department
CTS Nair/ Yurdi Yasmi/ Sim Heok
Choh
Day 8: Monday 30 March 2015
Module : Governance, accountability and transparency in the forest sector: Building
responsive institutions
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
0830 - 0845
0845 - 0900
0900 - 1030
1030-1100
1100-1200
1200 -1300
1300-1400
1400 -1500
1500 -1530
1530 -1630
1630- 1730
Review of issues discussed on day 6
and 7
Introduction
Governance challenges in the forest
sector
Tea\Coffee break
Course participants
Future of public forestry institutions
SAARC Area cross border timber
trade study including regional
institutional mechanisms and trade
links with Myanmar
Lunch break
Antonio La Vina
Leadership in future public
institutions
Tea\Coffee break
Antonio La Vina
Group work: Assessment of
institutional effectiveness
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
CTS Nair/ Yurdi Yasmi
CTS Nair
CTS Nair
Dhananjaya Kumar & Sepul Barua
CTS Nair/ Yurdi Yasmi
Day 9: Tuesday 31 March 2015
Module 7: Rebuilding the forest capital in the ASEAN: Restoration and rehabilitation of
degraded forest lands.
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
44 | P a g e
0830-0845
Review of issues discussed on day 8
Course participants
0845-0900
Introduction to the module
CTS Nair
0900 - 1030
Restoration and rehabilitation of
degraded forest lands: An overview
of the global and ASEAN situation
Tea\Coffee break
David Lamb
Rehabilitation efforts in Asia-Pacific:
Lessons from experience hitherto
Lunch break
Unna Chokkalingam
The landscape approach to
rehabilitation of degraded lands
Tea\Coffee break
David Lamb
Panel discussion: Why rehabilitation
efforts succeed and why they fail
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
David Lamb, Unna Chokkalingam,
Yurdi Yasmi, CTS Nair
CTS Nair/ Yurdi Yasmi
1030-1100
1100 - 1300
1300 -1400
1400 -1500
1500 -1530
1530 -1630
1630 - 1730
Day 10: Wednesday 1 April 2015
Module 7: Rebuilding the forest capital in the ASEAN: Restoration and rehabilitation of
degraded forest lands – Contd.
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
0830 -0845
0845 - 1030
Review of issues addressed on day 9
Ecosystem approach to forest
rehabilitation: Theory and practice
1030 -1100
Tea\Coffee break
1100 -1200
Financing forest rehabilitation
1200 -1300
Policy and institutional issues in
ecosystem rehabilitation
1300 -1400
Lunch break
1400 -1500
Science and technology of forest
rehabilitation
1500 -1530
Tea\Coffee break
1530-1730
Module 8: Finalization of policy
briefs
Day 11: Thursday 2 April 2015
Module 8: Drafting policy briefs
Course evaluation and closing session
Course participants
David Lamb
0900 -1000
1000 -1030
Participants
FAO/APAFRI
Presentation of policy briefs
Course evaluation
CTS Nair
Unna Chokkalingam
CTS Nair
Yurdi Yasmi/ CTS Nair/ Sim Heok
Choh
45 | P a g e
1030 -1100
1100 -1200
Tea\Coffee break
Award of certificates
Closing ceremony
Remarks by participants
Remarks by organizers
Vote of thanks
1300 -1400
Nyi Nyi Kyaw,Director General,
Forest Department
Yurdi Yasmi
CTS Nair
Sim Heok Choh
Thaung Naing Oo, Forest Research
Institute
Lunch
Friday 3 April 2015: Departure of participants
46 | P a g e
ANNEX
POLICY BRIEFS
PROMOTION OF FAMILY FORESTRY:
THROUGH LOCALLY MANAGED FORESTS
REDUCING POVERTY
Under the successful economic growth of ASEAN countries – still there are poor people living in and
around forest areas, who depended their lives upon small farm land and forest resources, more people
are losing their land through various forms of development. Sustainable management of forests such as
family forest practices and locally managed forest, by developing families mix planting plots of edible
species of trees/shrubs, fruits, medicinal plants, for their own consumption and for sale. High-value
timber species can be planted and managed by families and communities, to enhance self sufficiency and
to generate sources of short term and long term income. This will not only help to reduce poverty through
boosting livelihoods options and food security but also enhance forests functions and services, protecting
global “natural capital” for mankind and earth.
Governments of Asian region are committed to halving extreme poverty by 2015 and many have adopted
poverty related measures in national policies and programs. A forest policy lays down broad principles
and strategies for the country’s forestry sector to help guide both public and private actions that benefit
forest ecosystems, community and society at large (World Bank study, 2000). Roughly 70% of the Asian
country’s population is living in the rural area and their contributions to the country’s economy were
significant especially from the agro-forestry sectors. However, the rural communities become poorer and
most of them are living below poverty line. Forests and land degradation has been aggravating poverty.
As a consequence, rural people who used to enjoy benefit of neighboring forests lost their sources of
livelihood.
Underlying causes directly corresponding to are:
Declination of natural resources.
Rapid commercial industrialization, urbanization and deforestation.
Limited livelihood options for farmers living in the rural villages.
Over exploitation of resources through forest land concession
Farmers owning small/no pieces of land
Social structure and marketing systems.
47 | P a g e
In most Asian countries forest policy does not allow private investment in public forests. On the other
hand government cannot afford to invest for conducting large scale plantation in forests such policy
constraints left large area of public forests remain barren for decades. But it’s showed evidences from
some Asian countries over decades that community participation in forest management, the establishment
of community and families’ forests generally have good impacts in poverty reduction and empowerment
local communities and families to sustainably manage forests.
Vietnam, studies showed that the duty to manage a natural forest can be delegated to household
and to a community; most of the communities that had established a community forest to which
everybody had restricted access were in a position of food security, and either produced enough
basic foodstuffs for their own consumption or produced something to sell for cash with which to buy
the missing food.
Myanmar, promotion of family forestry is an option to reduce the poverty of rural people as
individual families living in and around public forests. are to be invited for forestry practices under
some agreements which will provide the family head a usufractuary right on government land for a
particular period under specific terms and conditions. Tenure security in areas where land
appropriation is a threat to livelihood security, local people are motivated to form FUGs in the hope
that it will strengthen their claims on the land. According to UNDP1, Mya ar’s Natio al Strategy o
Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation aims to reduce the poverty rate by half from 32% in 2005
to 16% by 2015. The incidence of poverty declined faster in urban areas than in rural areas.
Consequently, rural poverty remains higher considerably higher than urban poverty.The rural poor
account for 84 per cent of the total poor.
The practices of Family forests are already in place in countries like Thailand and Bangladesh. An
assessment carried out in Uthai Thani and Nakhon Sawan Provinces of Thailand has shown that the
family forests provide annual benefits of $4,500 per hectare per year. (IUCN Thailand 2015) The
practices of social forestry in encroached forests of Bangladesh also have been proved to be effective
in poverty reduction. Families are receiving an amount of 5000 US $ equivalent cash on an average as
extra income from practicing 1 hectare of forestry every 10 years excluding other annual crops as
intermediate product. By investing the money received from forestry most of the families have
established their alternative sources of income. (Forest Department Record, Bangladesh)
To overcome the underline causes of poverty mentioned above, there are some options and here are two
options for considerations.
1- Promotion of family forestry and locally managed forest for poverty reduction. Family forestry
is one of the key factors in securing sustainable forest management .The allocation of forest
land to households is reducing conflicts between rural people and State, between farmers
themselves, between communities. Allocation of land use rights increases people’s control over
forest land and facilitates more intensive and long-term land use and forest matching people’s
food security and interests. In addition, developing families mix planting plots of edible species
of trees/shrubs, fruits, medicinal plants, for their own consumption and for sale. High-value
timber species can be planted and managed by families and communities, to enhance selfsufficiency and to generate sources of short term and long term income. This will not only help to
reduce poverty through boosting livelihoods options and food security but also enhance forests
functions and services, protecting global “natural capital” for mankind and earth. Promotion of
family forestry can eradicate the poverty of rural people, individual families living in and around
public forests are to be invited for forestry practices under some agreement.
48 | P a g e
Challenges however are that forests investment often requires medium and long-term and thus
couldn’t provide immediate food, livelihoods and cash. Credit scheme could address the shortage
of fund.
2- Private companies can be invited for large scale plantation investment with an agreement to
employ local farmers as work force for all the forestry activities. But this option resulted to
biodiversity lost due to monoculture and intensive chemical uses leading to fertility degradation,
water scarcity, etc. Most of the Asian countries unlike Myanmar do not allow private companies
to invest in the government forests. Private companies may use the forest with the objectives of
more profit without addressing the objectives of forest management and local employment.
Moreover it is evident from Myanmar experience that the farmers living in the vicinity of forests
are not happy with leasing out their neighboring forests to companies or private investors. And
also the process of leasing out is not necessarily found effective for poverty eradication of rural
people.
Conclusion and recommendations
The reality of the forest land allocation process in Asian countries is that there is currently not enough
guidance in terms of the mechanisms, policies, organizational systems, and techniques for implementing
family forestry. The most challenging issues are related to post-allocation sustainable forest management
and how poor people can benefit from these allocated forests, which vary considerably among allocated
units. With the slow growth of forest and extended periods with no profitable returns, it is easy to
understand why people do not benefit significantly from forests immediately after allocation. Forests
have not yet become a competitive economic component in the uplands and, because of this, require
mechanisms, policies, and on-going technical support in order to significantly contribute in terms of
incentives for farmers to engage in HF and CF and contribute towards SFM. Ultimately, this system of
family forestry combined with SFM principals can lead to meaningful livelihood development and
poverty alleviation for the forest-dependent communities that are allocated forest lands for HFM and
CFM purposes. Much is dependent on simple management and monitoring rules and regulations that can
help to facilitate this process and lead to the success of family forest practice.
A framework that an agreement between family and local government will provide the family head a
usufractuary right on government land for a particular period under specific terms and conditions.
Farmers can be provided with specific number tree seedlings to be planted per acre along with his
agriculture and horticulture of his choice. All the income from agriculture and horticulture production
will be enjoyed by farmers along with 50% income of the tree harvested after rotation age, it will
encourage farmers to grow maximum number of high value timber trees in the land under agreement.
.
References:
GIZ, 2009. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Land in the Lao PDR.
Lao PDR, 2004. National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES).
IFFA, 2003. Family Forestry – People and Forests in Harmony.
SRD, 2014. Report on the potential VPA impacts on the livelihood of forest-dependent
communities in Yen Binh district
IFAD, 2013. Rural poverty in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
Forest Department Record, Bangladesh
49 | P a g e
MAKING FOREST REHABILITATION WORK FOR THE PEOPLE
BACKGROUND
Since 1990, 38.7 million hectares of primary and other naturally regenerated forest have been lost in the
Asia-Pacific region. The overall low levels of per capita forest area in the region make these reductions
even more significant (FAO, 2012). More so, a great number of communities depend on forest area for
livelihood in the region. With this condition, expanding the forest area through rehabilitation activities is
essential in the development agenda of any country. Community based forest rehabilitation can be a force
to reckon with provided that the land tenure system is improved, local capacity for forest rehabilitation
enhanced and livelihood support and other related incentives provided.
ISSUES/ KEY PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED
Decreasing forest cover in AP region deforestation & forest degradation
In the Asia-Pacific countries, most of the forest have been lost due to various economic, social and
political factors; to an amount of 38.7 million hectares between 1990 and 2010 (FAO, 2012). The overall
low levels of per capita forest area in the region make these reductions even more significant. The most
dominant development has been the conversion of forests to other land uses such as plantation
agriculture, mining operations, human settlements as well as industrial and infrastructure development.
These large-scale conversions are the logical consequence of an increasing population and the demands
of an accelerated economic development. In the AP region, the largest reduction in forest area is reflected
in the Southeast Asia where deforestation amounted to 33.2 million hectares or 7.6 percent of the land
area within the same timeframe. These forested areas continued to decrease with an average deforestation
rate of 1.3 percent for the entire region in the period between 2000 and 2005 (FAO 2007).
Table 1 provides a summary of the extent of degradation of forest land in Southeast Asia (Source: FAO
2005, FAO 2006, FMB 2004). These provide rough approximations of more than 100 million hectares or
59% of forest land in the region are under stocked and unproductive and, thus in need of some form of
rehabilitation. These estimations also serve to illustrate the magnitude of the forest rehabilitation task and
by no means express accurate rehabilitation targets.
Table 1. Proportion of degraded forest area in relation to total forest area
In Southeast Asia (in million ha)
Country
Total forest area
Degraded forest area
Brunei Darussalam
0.04
Cambodia
18.1
10.50
Indonesia
105.0
59.00
Lao P.D.R.
16.1
6.30
Malaysia
32.9
10.30
Myanmar
67.7
10.60
Philippines
14.8
7.60
Singapore
0.002
50 | P a g e
Thailand
14.5
6.00
Vietnam
12.6
7.00
Total
198.4
117.34
Increasing forest cover plantation forest & rehabilitation
The current emphasis on rehabilitation of degraded forests provides opportunities to build new
relationships between governments and local communities based on collaboration rather than
confrontation. Progress is likely to be slow, partly because of entrenched attitudes in the bureaucracy
embedded in a past view of the world. Nonetheless, there seems to be an inevitability about the general
direction of policy, with governments throughout the region (and indeed the world) devolving more rights
and responsibilities to various actors in civil society.
Current status of social forestry in the ASEAN region can be spelled out as follows; forest area managed
by local people with official community forest agreements (2013) is about 3.5% of the total forest land,
and through this enabling mechanism community forestry has contributed to successful rehabilitation of
2.2 million hectares of forest land since 2010. Countries with notable community forest cover expansion
include Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Deforestation, however, continues to outpace
forest growth by 6:1 ratio.
Box 1: Extent of communities’ involvement in forest rehabilitation integrated in national forestry
agenda
For the first time, The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry’s strategic priorities for 2004-2009 include
development for communities living in and around forests
China has adopted a massive forest-based rehabilitation programme to improve environmental
conditions since 1950s and reduce rural poverty with relative success in increasing forest cover and
family income.
The National Greening Program in the Philippines rely largely on People’s Organization (PO’s)
organized under the Community Based Forest Management Program to implement the program. With
PO’s around, maintenance and protection of established plantations is guaranteed.
In Thailand, approximately 6,000 Community Forest Management Projects were approved between
the years 2000-2006.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Community based forest rehabilitation the way forward
Taking cognisance of the past and ongoing rehabilitation initiatives in the AP region and comparing the
achievements to date with the magnitude of the area in need of rehabilitation, it can easily be seen that a
lot more efforts and investments are required. Much of the success of any rehabilitation programs would
depend on complex and sometimes intertwining factors. Aside from infusion of sufficient financial
resources, participation of local people in the community in rehabilitation efforts is very important.
Providing communities with tenure security and opportunities to establish forest resources for their own
benefits can increase their participation in rehabilitation efforts and enables them to be more effectively
involved in sustainable forest management. The forest rehabilitation has to be seen in the context of
integrated rural development. Issues need to be addressed in national forest programme processes
involving governments, private sector companies, community representatives, and non-governmental
organisations.
51 | P a g e
To improve the contribution of local community towards the country’s forest rehabilitation initiatives,
approaches must be tailored according to the local conditions and demands. Particularly emphasis should
be placed on the followings:
1. Land Tenure Security/ Resources Ownership Rights
Security of tenure matters a lot to making communities take responsibility for forests, best seen as one of
necessary conditions for good outcomes for forest rehabilitation activities. To encourage participation and
support, particularly from the communities living in and near forest area, policy reforms that sought to
broaden local participation in these activities and increase local benefits from forests is necessary. Clear
forest land tenure and resource rights are requisites in ensuring equitable participation and allocation of
benefits to local communities especially the poor. Secure tenure and clear management rights provide
guarantee to families or local communities to benefit from the human and financial resources pour on
managing and rehabilitating the forestlands. The policy should be flexible enough to accommodate
varying local conditions, facilitative rather than restrictive, and simple enough for communities to
understand
2. Encourage Multi-Stakeholder Participation In Forest Governance and Management
Social processes which ensure greater participation of local communities and other legitimate
stakeholders in the management and sharing of benefits from forests should be adequately developed.
What is unique in forest resources is that multiple stakeholders are associated with its multiple uses and
represent various interests. Local governments, private institutions, small tree farm holders has individual
strengths and advantages that will contribute to the overall success of the rehabilitation program. Thus,
efforts towards increasing forest cover and forest rehabilitation need to consider these varying interests,
without marginalizing the concerns of the local communities. This calls for the development and
institutionalization of social processes that will ensure that the local communities and other legitimate
stakeholders are able to participate meaningfully in decision making concerning forest management and
benefits haring from forests.
3. Provision of Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Activities
Capacity development is needed for families and communities to develop skills in forest rehabilitation
including choice of species, having quality planting materials, tending and other silvicultural activities as
well as market support. Local people has varied skills in forest rehabilitation. Many will choose fast
growing species while other prefer native species or a combination of fruit trees for more economic
benefits. Still others choose to plant those that command immediate but higher price once harvested.
Capacity development and technical assistance are needed to meet both the economic, social and
environmental benefits that a forest rehabilitation program can offer.
4. Increase Incentives to Community and provision of livelihood
Forestry maintains characteristics of high risk, long production period, easily affected by the natural
disasters. Hence commercial insurance companies fear to enter in forestry sector. With these concerns, it
is necessary to provide subsidies to the local community for a certain tree growing period. A certain
amount of compensation should be available to effectively encourage the communities to put effort in
forest rehabilitation.
Couple with those measures forwarded above, awareness campaign is vital in order to promote the entire
program and encourage larger participation and support of all stakeholders. This could be done by
utilizing the strength of media, academe, nongovernment organizations, etc.
REFERENCES
52 | P a g e
FAO 2012: Asia Pacific Forest and Forestry To 2020. Forest Policy Brief 01: Forest for a Greener future.
FAO, 2012: Asia Pacific Forest and Forestry To 2020. Forest Policy Brief 07: Making forestry work for
the poor.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2005. State of World’s Forest, FAO, Rome.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2006. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005. FAO Paper
No. 147. Rome.
Food
and
Agriculture
Organization
(FAO),
http;//www.fao.org/dorep009/a773e/a0773e00.htm
2007.
State
of
World’s
Forest
Forest Management Bureau (FMB). 2004. Philippine forestry statistics. Forest Management Bureau,
Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines.
Forest Management Bureau (FMB). 2013. National Greening Program. Forest Management Bureau,
Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines.
State Forestry Administration, 2014: Forest Resources in China – The 8th National Forest Inventory, P.R.
China.
53 | P a g e
LIVELIHOOD IMPROVEMENT OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES LIVING IN AND NEARBY
FOREST AREA
Background:
The forest is a valuable resource which must be managed
in a sustainable basis. It is vital to ensure that our forest
remain as renewable resources in order to provide
healthy balance between socio-economic and
environmental development and to ensure sufficient
resources for our next generations.
Some developing countries are currently facing with the problem of diminishing forest resources due to
the encroachment of local people into the protected forest to meet their basic needs. The encroached area
in a country can be million hectares of forest land. Having acknowledged such situation, government in
these nations could now endeavour to prevent this
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):
encroachment to degrade forest environment. A
well-recognized solution to the situation is the
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and
community forest management which is widely
hunger,
accepted as a cheap and effective way to manage
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
forest sustainably.
However, in some countries, despite receiving forest and forest land to protect and carry out some agroforestry cultivation, local communities still encounter great difficulties in managing their allocated forest
land. Likewise, the community forest management in such country still need to be improved to ensure
that communities are willing to invest their effort to manage community forest in sustainable way.
In both cases, appropriate actions have to be taken to address the problems.
Problems:
Local people living in villages nearby forest encroach into the protected forest to satisfy their basic needs.
Local forest-adjacent communities are “hand to mouth people” with limited amount of resources. Thus,
they heavily depend on nearby forest for their daily needs and livelihood. Some countries have just
started to allocate forest and forest land to local forest-reliant people for farming and collection of forest
products. Therefore, such people are forced to encroach protected forest to exceedingly collect forest
products and to occupy forest land for shifting cultivation. Such activities cause severe deforestation and
forest degradation.
On the other hand, local communities who have already been allocated protected forest land are facing a
number of problems in managing such allocated land sustainably. Local communities are often poor and
still heavily reliant on forest for livelihood. However, they are often allocated poor natural forest with
limited non-timber forest products and have not rights for timber extraction from allocated forest land.
Thus, the income generated from activities of community forest management is extremely low while their
responsibility on forest significantly increases. Furthermore, they do not receive sufficient financial and
technical support from government and other organizations to effectively manage their allocated natural
forest land. As a result local communities now have less incentive to manage the allocated natural forest,
leading a high potential of forest degradation.
54 | P a g e
Analysis of the situation:
Developing countries are making significant progress to achieve MDGs targets. This growth brings
tremendous challenges on forestry sectors. The people who are living in and near the forests remain poor
and depend on forests products for their livelihoods. Deforestation and forest degradation are continuing
under the activities of local communities. Tackling these issues requires effective participation of local
communities.
Total forest area in ASEAN region is 199.7 million hectares, covering 46% of total land area. Only 2.2
million hectares in such region is under the community management. According to RECOFTC report, the
target area of community forest management in ASEAN will be 15.9 million hectare.
How to make community forest management (CFM) work for both forests protection and livelihoods
improvement of local communities? A very important step is to ensure local communities or households
having the rights to manage forests with clear land tenure.
In ASEAN countries, encroached and deforested area is 13.3 million hectares since 2010. Considering the
fact of encroached forest land managed by local communities mainly used for livelihoods improvement,
it would be a feasible way to allocate these lands to local communities for management. They can receive
more incomes with cash crop, at the same time planting tree, NTFP collection and other products from
tree and forest.
China started collective-owned forest land reform nationally since 2008 by encouraging and regulating
collective forest owners to reassess and reallocate their forest use rights. So far, 180 million ha of
collective-owned forest land has been demarcated, taking 98.8% of national collective-owned forest land.
Certificate of land use right has been issued for 89.72million households covering 173 million ha of
collective-owned forest land. The duration of the land use right under the contract can be up to the 70
years.
Most of allocated forests for community forestry are degraded, local communities have to provide their
effort first and then wait for several years for harvesting. For example, trees normally need at least few
years to grow before benefits can be realized. So, the policy relevant to community forestry management
shall be considering the characteristics of tree and forests, as well as needs of local communities.
In six countries including Lao, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, communities have no
significant share of forest land, accounting about 3% (RECOFTC, 2013). These countries often face with
forest
Recog itio of co
u ity’s te ure rights to forest land allow community forest take
encroachment
the old and new roles. Tenure rights grant communities access to an asset that holds
of
potential to facilitate improvement in their livelihood. Transferring forest tenure right
communities
to local communities also manifest the gover e t’s respect a d recog itio o
around
and
human and indigenous rights. This, moreover, help government to comply with
protected
and
global conventions and agreements (RECOFTC, 2013)
state forest.
Thus, there is
an imperative need to allocate forest land to local communities in these countries. The benefits from
community forest management can be seen in the (box )
55 | P a g e
In some countries, the communities have been remarkably granted with forest land to manage for
livelihood and sustainable utilization of forest resources. Such countries as China, Philippines and Papua
New Guinea allocated 60% of its forest land to local community while four countries in Asia Pacific
region grated one-third their forest land to local communities. The forest tenure rights is continuously
transferred to local forest-reliant communities. However, the influence of the communities on forest
much depends on the specific governance arrangement in place. Only where communities process forest
and exercise
The Case study of Nepal demonstrates that stringent restrictions on forest use such as grazing
active
of livestock and collection of forest products such as medicinal plants disproportionately affect
control over
poorer segments of society and, in particular, women. (RECOFTC, 2012)
forest
management
embracing commercial use (commercial harvesting timber, NTFP) are they able to derive benefits from
forest management and to have sustainable incentives and means to engage in sustainable management.
In contract, if there are a number of serious limitations on the forest tenure rights local, communities
often encounter with enormous difficulty in managing forest and reaping benefits from their activities.
For example, the livelihood sources are highly likely to be adversely affected by the restrictions on forest
product use, such as fuel wood, income sources, food and fodder that rural communities depend upon.
In addition, Policy and legal inconsistency often weaken the rule of community forestry management.
Most of forests owned by local community are degraded. Local communities are asked to provide their
effort first and then waiting for several years for harvesting. Trees, however, need a few years to grow
before benefits can be realized while they receive a few supports from government. This leads to low
incentives of communities on managing forest.
Implementation options:
The government allocates and regulates the use of forest lands by giving local communities land tenure
through issuance of certificate for long term tenure. Socio-economic and site suitability studies need to be
carried out. Technical and financial support should be given. Institutional framework, rules and
regulations must be in place and strengthened. Awareness-raising and capacity building program need to
be conducted.
The government change status of forest lands that have been encroached to other category, namely,
agriculture use. These encroached lands which have been changed to agriculture lands would be given to
the local communities who are occupying it. However, by doing this the government would lost forest
land and have to find other forest lands for replacement to be protected. The local communities will still
be staying nearby forest and there is no guarantee that there will be no further encroachment in future. To
avoid further encroachment the government has to strengthen law and regulation.
The government enforces law to evict the encroachers from the forest lands. The local communities have
been occupying the forest lands for a long time and this process may create social problems and escalate
the problems. The local being poor would not be able to pay penalty and may end up in jail
Important conclusions:
It is clear that local communities are more or less forest dwellers and as a result they should be taken as
one part of forest resources management.
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In this context, conventional forest management system alone is not strong enough to conserve the
natural forest and to implement reforestation program so participatory forest management should be
jointly applied while managing forest.
Community forest is used as a tool to promote active participation of local people in managing forest and
forest resources sustainably.
Policy and legal inconsistency often weaken the effectiveness of community forestry.
Recommendation:
It is proposed that the government allocates and regulates the use of forest lands by giving local
communities land tenure through issuance of certificate for long term tenure. The forest lands shall be
managed in compliance with the community forestry management model. The Forest Department is
responsible to:
i.) Conduct awareness program and capacity building for the local communities.
ii.) Carry out socio-economic study to ensure that the need of the local communities are identified
and fulfilled.
iii.) Carry out the site suitability study to ensure that the crops and trees planted are rightly matched
with soil capabilities.
iv.) Extend technical support and, if necessary, get government financial incentive to be given to the
local community participants to ensure the success of the community forestry projects.
v.) Ensure that institutional framework must be in place and rules and regulations strengthened.
vi.) Support coordination and cooperation between local communities and private companies.
vii.)
Supporting the development of timber-processing industry and forest products market.
Conclusion:
The proposal to allocate and regulate the management of the forest lands with the participation of the
local communities supported technically and financially by the government would allow them to cultivate
land effectively to raise their livelihood and simultaneously protect the forest lands from further
encroachment. The realization of this proposal would contribute to the sustainable forest management.
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SUSTAINABLE PEAT LANDS
Peat lands are wetlands with rich organic top layer, mainly composed of dead and decaying plant
materials. They are also known as moors, mire, bogs, swamp forests, etc. Peat lands are natural landscape
and sequester of carbon. Peat lands found extensively world over including in south Asian countries.
Among the south-east Asia, peat lands of Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, are
suffering due to various threats and hence degrading rapidly. This is an important landscape in terms of
its carbon sequestration, community livelihood and wetland biodiversity conservation, etc.
Degradation of peat land is due to lack of optimum water level, which is eventually drying, drought the
landscape. This is due to intentional draining out of water and repeated occurrence of fires put by the
wasted interest parties. There are companies, who are involved in plantation business, diverting this
important landscape for palm and other exotic species tree plantations. This is resulting in to reduction in
the extent of peat lands. This is arising conflict between the local community and private companies.
Further, the dependency of the local community is at stake due to the drying of wetland, lowering of
groundwater and reduction of wetland vegetation. Further the peat land fire increasing the release of
GHGs and nation’s commitment to bring down the CO2 level by the year 2015 is at stake. Due to the
immense potential of carbon sequestration and livelihood, government took decision to draft a policy for
peat land conservation. In this regard, the Government of Indonesia formulated a policy through several
processes, which includes, drafting several preparation meetings and discussions were held among related
government offices, and experts until harmonization process, and finally notified the policy in the year
2014. Problem with the policy implementation is the effectiveness of its enforcement and its
accountability.
The sustainable peat land has a close relationship between the kind of natural vegetation which adds
carbon to the landscape and natural water level maintained above the thick carbon level. To that end,
composition of natural vegetation, keeping the water in the peat surface as high as possible, such as
natural conditions, is very important for sustainable peat lands. In Indonesia, peat lands are degrading due
to drought and repeated fire. Most of the peat land areas in Indonesia are covered with mixed forests,
secondary forests of logged-over areas, shrubs and swampy grasslands. The recent data from wetland
international, (Wahyunto et al, 2006) ravealed that peat lands is estimated at 20.6 mil ha, which is about
11% of the total land area of Indonesia. Of this about 5.8 mil ha or 28% is said to be in Kalimantan, and
about 7.2 mil ha or 35% in Sumatra only. Study of Wetland International, Indonesia (2005), reveals that
the potential peat lands in Riau Province in the year 2002 was 4.03 million ha. The content of carbon in
the peat in 1990 amounted to 16833.45 million tons (75.62% of the total Sumatra), whereas in 2002:
transformed into 14592.14 million tons of C. For 12 years (1990-2002) decreased carbon content of 2,241
million tons (13.31%) or 1.11% per year (Wetland International, 2005).
In Indonesia, Peat lands are governed by policies related to forestry, biodiversity, environment, water,
fisheries, agriculture and various other regulations for the management of protected areas (National Parks
and Sanctuaries), water pollution, swamps, lakes, rivers, land and forest fire control and protection. Due
to cross over policies, often conflicts arises between stakeholders. There is huge information gap on the
extent and status of the peat lands in the country. It can be seen from the earlier policy, “Presidential
decree No 32 (1990) states that peat lands with more than 3 m peat depth in the upper stream have to be
classified as protected areas”. But while the implementation of the policy, majority of the production
58 | P a g e
forest areas and forest concessionaires were in peat lands. This shows there is insufficient understanding
about the peat land functions and integrated land use management approach.
There is substantial dependency of local community on peat land and they have been using it for fishery,
extraction and collection of timber and non-timber forest products, and also cultivating on the reserve
areas meant for agricultural extension. Further the community lives in the peat lands are less educated/
illiterate, poor and generally practice easy method to earn the livelihood. In the past there was an
initiative in the buffer zones of PA by providing alternate cultivations like Cocoa, rubber plantation to
meet their livelihood. Presently, due to slash and burning of the peat lands and draining and drying of
wetland, community is losing their livelihood from Sago.
Most of the peat lands have been degraded during the decentralized period, which was done by the
government notification of regulations on district autonomy (UU No 22/1999), which has devaluated
essential power of the Central Government to District Governments. Due to the inefficiency in the
system, now all the powers have been taken back (Act 23, 2014) by the central government.
Many experts in the region say that canalization is the main
trigger damage to peat land hydrology. They also reported
that destruction of peat lands as a result of fires, it can be
seen in the data ‘hotspot’, e.g. land and forest fires in Riau,
Fig.1: Hotspot occurrences in Riau
province
2014(fig.1). It is reported that in Bengkalis
district, an average of 18 km length canals
per ha of peat lands have been made by the
plantation companies. Experts assessed that
if the water level recedes more than 0.4 m
bellow the ground level (i.e. depth to water
level), the peat land gets dried up and
become fire prone and reduce most of
wetland species (e.g. Sagu, Sei Tohor
village). Riau province is one of the most
prone to forest and land fires. Land and
forest fires occur almost throughout the year, i.e. spread over in the two periods between February and
March and the second period in June and November.
There is myth in the people that the palm and exotic species plantation will increase the economic growth
of the nation. But the World Bank study, 2014 reveals that there is total sector loss reached $ 935 million
due to the fire and peat lands degradation (Please refer fig.2, for individual sector loss).
Due to the heavy cost and loss, local community is now objecting such diversion of peat land for
plantation and encroached by the private companies. Companies are planting oil palm, rubber, acacia sp,
eucalyptus sp, and diverting huge amount of peat lands in the pretext of national economic development.
59 | P a g e
Most difficult situation is that stakeholders have not been participating in the implementation of
Government Regulation, 71 of 2014, which is basically for the protection and management of peat lands.
Due to the land and forest fires and diversion of peat lands for the plantation, lowering of critical
groundwater level, which is crossed more than 40 cm below disturbed peat hydrology at Sei Tohor
village. Further the prolonged dry weather and extended summer season, decreasing the groundwater
level in the region and in-turn seriously hampering the cultivation in the command area of the landscape.
Another observation made by the study by the Riau University that the lowering of groundwater is
gradually changing the hydrological head and increasing the intrusion of sea water into the landmass.
This is a serious matter as drinking and irrigation water is met from the groundwater is concerned. Due to
this the locally important species, Sago is depleting very fast and fish production has also came down.
The situation and policy analysis provides basis to list various alternatives to manage the peat lands
sustainably. Following are some of the alternatives have been identified for the Bengkalis peat land
region, Indonesia.
1. Awareness rising with the help of specialized persons (communication strategy devised by the
experts) about the importance of peat lands conservation and benefit. This will help to conserve
and protect the peat lands, which are un-degraded. The sensitized community will come forward
and participate in the sustainable management of peat lands.
2. Since there are several canals have been already constructed by the company for draining out
peat lands, it would be worthwhile to construct simple to moderate canal blocking system in
order to restore and revise the peat hydrology. This should be done through very strong
imposition of regulations especially on those private companies who for say comply the water
level, but take up the advantage of weak policy enforcement and actually draining out the water.
3. Establishment of local authority at the district level chaired by Bhupati for the management of
peat lands is important. This authority should be provided technical input by a committee,
chaired by the central secretary and member secretary of the committee shall be nominated by the
Bhupati. Committee would get members from private sectors, local community, forest
department, and other line departments. This committee may constitute a task force to monitor
the progress made by the policy implementation. This may be done through identification of site
specific indicators, gathering temporal data, and compared it with the norms/ standards set in the
policy. This body will be responsible for carry out research, if required, for the identification of
the suitable species, which is good for the sustainable peat lands and economic development.
Further this committee would suggest alternate livelihood opportunities for the local community,
so as to reduce pressure on peat lands.
4. To control the fire, fire danger rating system of ASEAN country should be used and all the data
and information be transformed to the respective/ related community groups, who are already
trained to fight the fire. In this regard the government should strictly impose fine on the private
company whenever they fail to protect land from fire; this should be done by the third party
audit/ surveillance.
5. Department should also go for efficient implementation of forest certification for palm oil, timber
estate and concessionary forest management units. This will help the department to implement
the policy and sustainable management of peat lands.
The policy brief makes general recommendation for the sustainable peat lands and they are; Conserve undrained peat lands; Restore over drained, fire prone degraded peat lands; Adapt management of peat
lands by transferring good practices as suggested above.
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References
Anonymous, 2014.
Informasi Kebakaran Hutan dan Lahan. Direktorat Pengendalian
Kebakaran Hutan, 2014.
E. Maltby, P. Immirzi, 1993. Carbon dynamics in peat lands and other wetland soils regional and
global perspectives. Chemosphere Volume 27, Issue 6, September 1993, Pages 999–1023.
Iwan Tri Cahyo Wibisono, Tilmann Silber, Irwansyah Reza Lubis, Dipa Satriadi Rais, Nyoman
Suryadiputra, Marcel Silvius, Susanna Tol and Hans Joosten, 2011. “Peat lands in Indonesia’s
National REDD+ Strategy”. Responding to the Public Consultation of the draft National REDD+
Strategy of Indonesia issued on August 18, 2011. Wetlands International Indonesia, Wetlands
International Headquarters, 2011.
Susan E. , Florian Siegert, John O. Rieley, Hans-Dieter, V Boehm, Adi Jaya & Suwido Limin,
2002. The amount of carbon released from peat and forest fires in Indonesia during 1997. Nature,
International weekly journal of science, 2002.
Sustainable management of peat lands in south-east Asia Portal, visited on 28. 3. 2015.
(http://www.peat-portal.net/index.cfm?&menuid=42)
Wahyunto, Heryanto, B., Bekti H. & Widiastuti, F. 2006. Peta-Peta Sebaran Lahan Gambut, Luas
dan Kandungan Karbon di Papua, 2000–2001 [Maps of Peatland Distribution, Area and Carbon
Content in Papua, 2000–2001]. Bogor, Indonesia, Wetlands International – Indonesia Programme
& Wildlife Habitat Canada (WHC).
Wahyunto, Heryanto, B., Bekti H. & Widiastuti, F. 2006. Peta-Peta Sebaran Lahan Gambut, Luas
dan Kandungan Karbon di Papua, 2000–2001 [Maps of Peatland Distribution, Area and Carbon
Content in Papua, 2000–2001]. Bogor, Indonesia, Wetlands International – Indonesia Programme
& Wildlife Habitat Canada (WHC).
Website visited on 28.3.2015. http://www.wetlands.org/Portals/0/publications/Presentations/04Peters_Peatl_initiatives_Ramsar_COP11.pdf
World Bank, 2014. Hard Choices, Indonesia Economic Quarterly, July 2014.
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COMMUNITY BASED FOREST FIRE MANAGEMENT (CBFiM)
Global FRA 2010 indicated that uncontrolled forest fires in South East Asia (SEA) affect 18.6 million
hectare of land that has serious consequence especially on the degradation of forest, ecological changes,
deterioration of social and economic condition in some land use system. Forest conversion for agriculture
by migrants and local people using fires has also been attributed to poverty and hunger. Therefore, any
analysis of forest fires needs to take into account the underlying causes of forest destruction. Prevention
of uncontrolled fires cannot succeed without adequate attention to these issues. In order effectively to
address these issues, emphasis should be given to the participatory/community-based fire management
approaches and improve institutional and technological capabilities at all levels.
Status of Forest Fire in SEA
The SEA region has diverse ecosystem, socio economic and cultural settings, and vegetation type
resulting from a wide range of land use system and climatic conditions, consequently having diverse fire
regimes and vulnerabilities. Fires are common in most deciduous (or seasonal) forests in SEA and the socalled ‘fire climax’ pine forests in Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines
(Luzon) and Indonesia (Sumatra) (Goldammer, 1997). There is a lack of existing regional capability in
fire research and management, including monitoring, early warning and ecological and socio economic
impact assessment and facilitating international cooperation in fire management. There in increasing
interest in CBFiM and the need for institutional and technological capacity development at all levels.
Country information on forest fire status (FAO, 2006)
Country
Status of forest fire
Fire management effort
Constraints
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Cambodia
Indonesia
Lao PDR
By shifting
cultivation, landmine clearing,
grazing and NTFPs
Largest country in
fire
mainly
in
Kalimantan
and
Sumatra
In 2002, 35497 ha
burned
Myanmar
Philippines
Viet Nam
Forest Fire Control Unitestablished in 2000
About 100 000 ha
are burned
annually
90% of fires
originate from
shifting cultivation
Global FRA 2005
estimate in 1985
indicated 6.5m.ha
were burned
Shifting
agriculture, fires
removes
3mha/year
50000 ha/year and
up to 100000
ha/year (Pham,
1999).
Central Government
developed fire-fighting teams
“Manggala Agni”(at provincial
and district levels)
Capacity building program by
EU and JICA
Agriculture and Forestry
officers assigned for fire
management activities at
provincial and district levels.
Few donor projects-CESV,
NGO focus
Public awareness campaigns in
dry season through various
media
Collaborative fire suppression
Little to no support at
institutional level
Lack of technical
expertise, training, and
equipment
Cohesive, balanced, and
capable
fire
management system not
effective
Central Fire Protection
Committee at both provincial
and district levels.
Forest Working Group at
village level
Forest fires are not
regarded as a major
threat
Shifting-cultivation
(Taungya) responsible
for causing fires
Community
involvement is difficult
Burning to induce
forage in pastures, and
debris burning in
agricultural plots
Weak technical capacity
Box-1: ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (FAO, 2006)
A significant policy development over the period 2000-2004 is the ASEAN Agreement on
Transboundary Haze Pollution, which was signed by all ASEAN Member countries in June 2002 and
entered into force on 25 November 2003. This signifies the culmination of concerted and intensive
regional efforts over the years to address trans boundary haze pollution since the 1994 and 1997-98
severe haze episodes. This agreement is the first legally-binding ASEAN regional environmental accord
to have entered into force, although it is noted that not all ASEAN Member countries have yet ratified the
agreement and until this occurs, questions about its potential effectiveness will arise.
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Underlying Causes of Forest Fire in SEA
Fire management practices depend on the historical or natural fire regime of the ecosystem, current
condition of the forest, and the management objectives of the landowner. Any proactive fire management
needs to adopt integrated, inter-sectoral, multi-stakeholder, and holistic approaches. However, the
situation varies markedly in different regions of the world. Following are some underlying causes of
forest fire prevalent in the SEA.
1. Uncontrolled fire due to lack of awareness and capacity: It is estimated that 350 million hectares
burn each year and up to 90 percent of wildland fires are caused by human activities. These are
primarily through uncontrolled use of fire for clearing forest and woodland for agriculture,
maintaining grasslands for livestock management, extraction of non-wood forest products, industrial
development, resettlement, hunting, and arson (FAO, 2006). Use of fires to clear land for
‘permanent’ agriculture and settlements by local communities is widespread in SEA (Fehr, 1993;
Malayang III, 2000; WWF, undated; Standing Office, NCFFPS, 2000). CBFiM related and focused
training program to address the needs and circumstances of participants at national to local scales are
not sufficiently available. Many indigenous communities, poor migrants, land speculators and forest
estate companies, fire is one of the least expensive methods to clear forests and prepare land for
permanent agriculture and other land uses.
2. Lack of policy and law: In many instances, most SEA countries do not have adequate and
appropriate fire-related policies. In recent years, large-scale forest fires in SEA, particularly in
Indonesia, have grabbed worldwide attention (Rowell and Moore, 2000). It is a complex issue for
governments to endorse regulatory framework for forest fire for the effective planning and
operational capacity in various ways.
3. Lack of information system and poor promotion of CBFiM: There is poor database information
about the CBFiM, which is viable approach and solution to effective fire management.
4. Lack of sufficient funding to implement CBFiM: A lack of adequate funding for the equipment,
capacity building is always a constraint in SEA for the effective and sustainable implementation of
CBFiM.
The way forward
Rural communities of SEA are one way or another depend their livelihood on forests and most affected
by uncontrolled fires. The governments only have to bear load of expenses more for the fire control.
Therefore, CBFiM has been found a significant step forward in the past years and it has increasingly had
positive impacts on the improved management of fire in the region. CBFiM is the simplest and least
expensive tool indeed therefore; following are the specific policy options for the fire management in SEA
region.
1. Research and Development: There is a very strong need for fundamental analyses of fire situations
on an ongoing basis, not only when disaster strikes. It is necessary to conduct national fire and fire
management assessments in order to formulate legal frameworks and strategies. Proper infrastructure
like good network of forest road should be developed in forest areas where forest fire is supposed to
occur in SEA.
2. Equipment and Capacity Building: The development of fire control field crews who are fitted with
standardized levels of manual and mechanized equipment is required. In each community, crew size
vary between 5 to 20 people and have designated leaders and specialist people capable of operating
and repairing fire-fighting equipment is needed. Equipment and resources available in the region
comprise a range of locally developed and imported technologies should be managed.
3. Management Information System: The routine collection of baseline fire information from
community that is relevant to a local, provincial or national level are essential to make sound fire
management decisions. Effort needs to be directed towards such a program within each country to
collect baseline fire-related data. This level of understanding will assist in identifying fire
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management needs and suitable program of management appropriately targeted and scaled to
circumstance.
4. Institutional Setup and Regional Efforts: Establish a regional South Asian Fire Monitoring Center,
which in future many also serve as a regional cooperation centre for wildfire disaster response. As the
CBFiM has emerged as a new and increasingly adaptive mechanism for working with and managing
fire in the region, the future of CBFiM and the benefits it can derive for communities will only be
ensured if further multi-stakeholder participation and coordinated efforts at international, regional,
national and local level efforts continue its development. Therefore, CBFiM as a practical and
suitable form of fire management in the region will increasingly enhances the overall fire
management outcomes.
REFERENCES
FAO (2006). Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005 – Report on fires in the South East Asian
Region. Fire Management Working Paper 10. www.fao.org/forestry/site/fire-alerts/en.
Goldammer, J.G. (1997). Overview of fire and some management issues and options in tropical
vegetation. In Transboundary pollution and sustainability of tropical forests: Towards wise forest fire
management. Proceedings of the AIFM International Conference. Edited by Haron Abdul Hassan,
Dahlan Taha. Mohammad Puat Dahalan, and Amran Mahmud. AESAN Institute of Forest
Management, Ampang Press, Kuala Lumpur
Rao, S. 2001. Forest fire management in Cambodia and its Prevention Remedies. In: CommunityBased Fire Management Regional Workshop (D. Ganz, P. Moore, and B. Shields, eds.), 6-8
December 2000. Regional Community Forestry Training Center, Bangkok, Thailand.
Rowell, A. and Moore, P.F. (2000). Global review of forest fires. WWF and IUCN, Gland,
Switzerland.
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Unna Chokkalingam
Balu Perumal
Sepul Barua
N H Consulting Pvt. Ltd.
Sim Choh