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Dear Readers”
Indonesia has announced it will set aside nearly half its share of the island of Borneo for forest conservation” as part of President Yudhoyono’s pledge to protect forests in the rest of his term. While the conservation pledge is impressive and certainly a step in the right direction” activists remain skeptical since much of the land set aside for conservation had already been cleared by mining and logging companies.
February 9 will mark the formal end of the United Nations International Year of Forests. RECOFTC’s Yurdi Yasmi reflects on the slow progress for forest-dependent people” while our support for the Miss Earth beauty pageant in Manila highlights our mutual commitment to ‘Celebrating Forests for People.’
We are also seeing off the Year of the Forests with the Bangkok International Forest Film Festival” to be held 17-19 February at TK Park in Bangkok. RECOFTC also contributed to the UNFF's commemorative publication for IYF with a report on building national partnerships for community forestry in Cambodia.
Also” we want to remind you to please add [email protected] to your email address book to ensure the E-News arrives in your inbox each month. We're trying out a few changes in the E-News this month” let us know what you think!
Until next month”
Lena Buell
Editor” People and Forests E-News
RECOFTC UPDATES
RECOFTC signs MOU with Vietnam Administration of Forestry
RECOFTC and the Vietnam Administration of Forestry signed an MoU to work together to expand community forestry and fight poverty in Vietnam. The MOU” valid until 2015″ will set the framework for collaboration in policy work” research and analysis” capacity building and information sharing at local and national levels as well as the piloting of new initiatives in community forestry” climate change” livelihood development and other aspects of forest governance.
Voices of the Forest – Sulawesi wins film award
RECOFTC’s short film on community forestry in Indonesia was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the Green Screen International Film Festival in Vancouver” Canada on November 5th” 2011.
Post-Durban Knowledge Sharing Workshop in Nepal” 8 January 2012
FECOFUN” Nepal” organized this workshop in coordination with RECOFTC with more than 30 participants” primarily from civil society” NGOs” and government. Presentations by COP 17 participants from Durban including Nepal’s REDD Cell and FECOFUN” focused on Durban outcomes and what the outcomes could mean for Nepal.
Training: Collaborative Management in National Parks
RECOFTC held a training course under the JICA-RECOFTC partnership program (Strengthening Community Forestry Capacity in Southeast Asia). The target country was Indonesia” with 11 participants” mostly from Centre for Forestry Education and Training” Ministry of Forestry Indonesia.
Post-Durban Experts Consultation Meeting
A meeting of 15 specialists familiar with the outcomes of COP17 negotiations will be held in Manila on 21 February to discuss the implications of COP17 for forests and forestry in the Asia-Pacific region. Organized by RECOFTC” FAO” and CoDe REDD Phils with support from GIZ” Norad” ASFN” and SDC.
RECOFTC contributed forests facts to Miss Earth competition
The Miss Earth pageant” held in Manila in December” featured placards displaying key snippets of information about forests and people. RECOFTC provided some of the ‘forests facts’ as part of a broader outreach effort to engage more of the youth population in Asia.