The Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) shared its strategic priorities at the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week on Tuesday, in Songdo Convensia Convention Center, Incheon, reaffirming its commitment to contribute to regional cooperation and relevant works.

The opening ceremony of the event was held on Tuesday and will run through Friday.

It is the largest forestry gathering in the APAC region organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization bringing government, private, academia, research sector together in one venue.

AFoCO, together with partner organizations the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation and the SPC Pacific Community, is taking the lead in the thematic stream on forest and landscape restoration.

More than 20 events and meetings are being organized under this thematic stream alone aiming to understand and share the regional state and progress of forest and landscape restoration and explore the way forward, organizers said.

Recognizing that forest restoration failures typically result from complex technical, socioeconomic, institutional and financial challenges, the opening session of the thematic stream set the stage for genuine engagement and dynamic discussions, they added.

AFoCO Executive Director Chencho Norbu stressed that it is a critical moment to prioritize the forest landscape restoration in regional and local plans of climate change mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity conservation.

“The APFW will provide a venue to share existing innovative technologies and good cases to enrich our knowledge and skills and push forward our efforts in terms of forest restoration in the region,” Norbu said.

Former Korea Forest Service Minister Lee Don-koo highlighted the experience of the nation in forest rehabilitation. In his keynote address, he stressed on the role forestry in welfare and collaborating traditional knowledge and experiences.

Patrick Durst of AsiaForest, as the moderator, noted that stocktaking experiences is important in shaping the right restoration strategies. With that background, both the governments and organizations in the region should ponder on the challenges in bolstering restoration in the region. He listed how to address finance, institutional coordination and skills, and what is the most appealing messages to gain necessary support from various stakeholders.

Along with other key players in the region, AFoCO has been taking a pivotal role in the field of forestry. It is exploring niche areas with partners such as by collaborating with FAO to translate sustainable forest management and climate change policies into action in member countries.

AFoCO is also seeking cooperation with the Center for People and Forests to strengthen the forest management capacity of local communities, while working on research and development with Center for International Forestry Research. The organization said it is expected to expand its activities with the cooperation of major international organizations to conserving forest in Asia. 



AFoCO is an intergovernmental organization involving 14 countries in Asia, committed to strengthening regional forest cooperation and taking concrete actions to promote sustainable forest management and address the impacts of climate change. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)