Report of the 6th Meeting of Asia Forest Partnership
6-8 September 2006, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
The AFP 6th Meeting was successfully convened in Yogyakarta on 6-8 September, 2006. More than 140 participants from over 20 countries attended the meeting to discuss some of most pressing forestry issues: illegal logging, forest rehabilitation, forest partnership and good governance. The 22 partners and 42 non-partner organizations came from:
Governments (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, India, Nepal, Netherlands, Philippines, Thailand, US, European Union, Switzerland, and UK);
National and international non-governmental organizations, (such as The Nature Conservancy, WWF-Indonesia, Birdlife Indonesia, Tropenbos International-Indonesia Program, Environmental Investigation Agency and Intercooperation, Asia Forest Network, FFPRI, RECOFTC, FoE Japan, GEF, Helvetas Bhutan, HUTAN Group, LEI, Lestari Indonesia, BRIK, RAKET, SEKALA, TELAPAK, Vasundhara, The Institute of Environmental Study and Partnership of Indonesia, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds );
International institutions (CIFOR, World Bank, UNDP, WRI, IGES, EC-FLEGT, IFSA, SACEP and IUCN);
Universities; and
Private sector (Perhutani, APKINDO, JFWIA, PT. Restorasi Ekosistem Indonesia, PT. Sumalindo Lestari Jaya Tbk, SGS PNG Limited and Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper).
All participants gave positive response to 18 presentations presented on the second day and 7 presentations presented on the third day of the meeting. The meeting also highlights a crucial momentum for the future of the Asia Forest Partnership. Since AFP is nearing the end of Phase I (2007), participants were asked during the meeting to define how the partnership has helped partners increase synergies and reduce duplication in addressing the aforementioned forestry issues. The results of an AFP survey were presented followed by a discussion about the future of AFP where participants indicate their agreement that AFP should continue into Phase II.
The meeting produced new AFP announcement with
the rotational of Steering Committee Chairpersonship as the main issue. Mr.
Bambang Murdiono from the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and Mr. Henry
Scheyvens from the IGES, Japan were elected as Chair and Vice Chair of AFP
Steering Committee respectively and will be chairing the next AFP meeting, which
is planned to be held in Japan in 2007. Two preparatory meetings are planned to
be conducted prior to the AFP 7th Meeting, i.e. 1) working group meeting, which
is to be held back-to-back with the 41st of ITTC meeting
in Yokohama, Japan on 12-13 of November 2006, to evaluate AFP’s phase I
implementation, and 2) AFP Steering Committee meeting, which is planned to be
held back-to-back with the UNFF meeting in Bali on February 2007, to discuss
further on the future of AFP. Finally, we would like to express our sincere thanks to the host government, the Ministry of
Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia, the government of USA, the government of
Australia, CIFOR, Tropenbos International Indonesia Programme, and WWF Indonesia
for their financial support to the meeting. We are also grateful to the co-chairs, steering
committee members, and all participants who shared their thoughts, ideas and
presentations in the meeting. Special thanks also to the AFP Secretariat team
for continuous support to the preparation and implementation of the meeting.
These contributions were made with the strong spirit of partnership that helps
us all work together for the betterment of forest management in Asia and the
protection of our remaining forests from further destruction for the sake of
current and future generations.
Dr. Petrus Gunarso
AFP Secretariat Coordinator
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