Southeast Asian Civil Society network draws up strategic actions to expedite implementation of social forestry goals in the region. These strategic actions will be presented to the 4th ASEAN Social Forestry Network meeting to be held in Luang Prabang July 17-20.
30 civil society representatives from the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, collectively calling themselves the ASEAN Social Forestry Network Civil Society Forum converge in Siem Reap to prepare recommendations for the ASFN Meeting in Luang Prabang next week. The forum is the second one after the group’s formation in 2012. The forum, which is supported by the ASFN, is envisioned as a platform for civil society groups in the region to engage the ASEAN on matters relating to social forestry and climate change.
At the First ASFN Civil Society Forum held in 2012, a statement was drawn by the group outlining a set of proposals to create greater space for civil society in Southeast Asia to participate meaningfully in decision-making in the ASEAN, particularly on forestry issues. The statement proposes a more people-centered ASEAN in the forestry sector, which would give more focus on community economy and livelihoods, forest access rights and tenure, safeguards against outside threats, and greater community participation in forest governance.
Social forestry has, in recent years, gained currency as an effective way to address deforestation while ensuring tenure, economic security and a more participatory approach to forest management. In Cambodia, social forestry takes the form of community forests, in which the Cambodian government, through the Ministry of Forestry, awards portions of forest areas to communities under a 15-year contract. Under this scheme, communities are expected to manage the forest sustainably for their own benefit. However, current weaknesses in law implementation and conflicting development priorities which favors large-scale forest land conversion to other uses often negate whatever gains have been made in sustainable forest management under this social forestry scheme.
Social forestry is also being recognized by the ASEAN as a strategy to address climate change and mitigate its impacts on communities. Deforestation accounts for almost 1/3 of total carbon emissions worldwide, bigger than the total transport sector’s carbon emissions combined. Deforestation in Southeast Asia is currently pegged at an average of 1,086,000 ha forest area/year between 2005 and 2010 (FAO). If current trends continue, forest area in Southeast Asia will fall from 49 percent in 2010 to 46 percent in 2020 – a loss of 16 million hectares, an area just less than the size of Cambodia. Up to 300 million people – or over 50% of the ASEAN region’s population – live in rural areas and use forests for subsistence needs, including food, fuelwood, timber, medicines and income (FAO 2010).
With the geographic nature of the region, particularly its long coastlines, low-lying coastal areas, and large river delta systems, ASEAN nations are also continually at risk from the evident effects of climate change, including frequent and severe storms, sea level rise, and flooding.
The ASFN Civil Society Forum, was thus created through the efforts of civil society groups in the region calling for a more inclusive ASEAN, specifically in matters of forest governance and climate change. The CS Forum was thus created as a mechanism for civil society groups to engage the ASEAN and member-states in constructive dialogue and share learnings in social forestry and climate change initiatives happening in communities all over Southeast Asia.
Since its inception last year, the ASFN CSO Forum has observed gaps in implementing the proposals in the CSO Statement and have thus come together to develop further recommendations to facilitate its implementation. Among the emerging recommendations are: for ASFN to facilitate the creation of country-level teams, for ASFN to call on member-states to more stringently observe social safeguards such as environmental impact assessments and Free, Prior and Informed Consent, for member-states to allocate more resources towards developing non-timber forest products and value-addition through processing.
The Second ASFN Civil Society Forum, is being held on June 13 and 14 at the Somadevi Angkor Hotel in Siem Reap. It is designed to be a back to back event with the ASFN yearly meeting, to be held this year in Luang Prabang, Laos on June 17-19.
