Unleashing the power of research to shape forest landscape governance in Southeast Asia

Join RECOFTC, CIFOR, Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) and Explore at the XV World Forestry Congress to learn more about how research can unlock good forest policies.

Southeast Asia’s forests cover more than 193 million hectares, nearly 20 times the total surface area of South Korea. The region’s forest landscapes are vital to the health of the planet and are home to about 133 million people. The region’s countries recognise the importance of forest landscapes. And they are designing and implementing policies and programs to ensure their forests are governed and managed sustainably. High-quality, multi-disciplinary participatory research is essential to support their efforts.

Local universities are best placed to lead the co-creation of knowledge to support policy and decision-makers. But most universities in the region have limited capacity to do so.

To fill this gap, RECOFTC, CIFOR and Sweden are building the research capacity of universities in Southeast Asia to conduct and communicate high-quality research on forest landscape governance in the region. The initiative is called “Explore.”

Explore is supporting research to support the clarification and security of land tenure and resource rights, reduce poverty and inequality, conserve forests and biodiversity, and spur green and sustainable economic development.

Explore is organizing a session at the XV World Forestry Congress to better understand how researchers can design and implement research to support policy and decision-makers. Academics from the region will share good practices for informing policy and decision-makers and learn about how policy and decision-makers want to contribute to research.

The session will share information about how CIFOR, RECOFTC, AFoCO, Explore and other organizations and initiatives are supporting informed policy and decision making to improve governance of Southeast Asia’s forest landscapes.

Welcome

• Sirichai Saengcharnchai, Explore at RECOFTC

Keynote

• Representative from Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF), Indonesia

Moderator

• David Gritten, Program Manager for Explore at RECOFTC

Panel

• Kanokwan Manorom, Ubon Ratchathani University, Explore Program Advisory Committee Chair 
• Himlal Baral, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)-World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
• Lee Yeongjoo, Director of Capacity Development Division and Head of Regional Education and Training Center at Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO)
• Muhammad Alif K. Sahide, Universitas Hasanuddin