Socialization on ASEAN guiding principles for an effective social forestry legal framework

The Indonesian government has established a Social Forestry program to rehabilitate forests and improve the livelihoods of the communities that depend on them. There are five social forestry schemes: Village Forests (hutan desa, or HD), Community Forests (hutan kemasyarakatan, or HKm), Community Plantation Forests (hutan tanaman rakyat, or HTR), Forestry Partnerships/Conservation Partnerships (kemitraan kehutanan/kemitraan konservasi), and Customary Forests (hutan adat). 

Currently, social forestry achievement figures are still far from the initial target of 12.7 million hectares and the most recent Indicative Map of Social Forestry Areas (PIAPS) indicates only 6,372,449.22 hectares of social forestry areas have been allocated to 1,288,004 beneficiaries through 9,642 issued permits.

Working to support social forestry in Indonesia, RECOFTC, with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) and ClientEarth, will conduct socialization of the ASEAN Guiding Principles for Effective Social Forestry Legal Frameworks (AGP). The AGP aims to help strengthen governance and implementation of social forestry in ASEAN countries by: highlighting key priorities and establishing a comprehensive regional approach for the development of effective and enabling social forestry laws and policies in the region; serving as a baseline against which ASEAN countries, as well as civil society organizations and other stakeholders, can assess existing social forestry models and guide strategic national and/or sub-national level planning and implementation; assisting ASEAN countries in strengthening social forestry legal frameworks at national and sub-national levels in order to promote sustainable forest governance and equitable community livelihoods; and enhancing access to social forestry for local communities, Indigenous communities, and ethnic minority groups at the national level. 

The objectives of the activity are:

1. Providing an introduction to the ASEAN Guiding Principles for Effective Social Forestry Legal Frameworks to the targeted group
2. Obtaining insights on needs related to social forestry (e.g., implementation challenges, legal gaps, etc) from participants that could be incorporated into a follow-up training on the ASEAN Guiding Principles for Effective Social Forestry Legal Frameworks.