Page Content
Asia Pacific Forestry Skills and Capacity Building Program
What does the program involve?
The Asia-Pacific Forestry Skills and Capacity Building Program will provide up to $15.7 million over five years to assist countries in the Asia-Pacific region to increase their forest management expertise and improve the carbon sequestration performance of their forests.
It is recognised globally that many countries need assistance to achieve sustainable forest management. As forest management standards vary considerably across the region, Australia can assist Asia-Pacific countries to improve their capacity in sustainable forest management, restoration of degraded forests, reducing the impacts of forest fires and improving the systems of governance and forest law enforcement.
This program is part of the International Forest Carbon Initiative (IFCI). The IFCI aims to demonstrate that reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) can be part of an equitable and effective international outcome on climate change.
Projects funded under the Phase I of the Program
Applications for the first round of the Program closed in December 2007 with the majority of projects to be completed by June 2009.
The majority of funding in phase I was awarded to initiatives which are delivering hands-on training and training workshops aimed at improving skills and capacity in sustainable forest management and combating illegal logging.
Details on the Phase I projects funded:
- Phase 1 projects with contracts in place
Word [34kb] - A summary of outputs from Phase I projects
PDF [94kb]
Phase II of the Program
In support of IFCI, Phase II of the Program will build regional capacity for delivering sustainable forest management that supports efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. It will achieve this by:
- improving capacity to provide practical support for sustainable forest management and improved forest governance, law enforcement and regulatory frameworks which support activities that could lead to improved REDD outcomes
- building the institutional and technical capacity needed to support delivery of sustainable forest management and thereby REDD
- adaptive and effective program, partnership and knowledge management.
It is anticipated that a mix of large and small projects will be funded in phase II of the program. A total funding pool of up to $11.8 million may be available. To align with IFCI objectives, the priority countries for Phase II activities will be Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It is expected that project activities may also support learning between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, or promote broader regional adoption of the knowledge or outputs from projects in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
The capacity building projects may include, but are not limited to, one or a combination of the activities below:
- improving sustainable forest management practices, through training and education in forest inventory (addressing carbon as well as timber), silviculture, pest, disease and fire management and restoration of degraded forest landscapes
- support for forest law enforcement and governance (FLEG)
strengthening forest industry practices through reduced impact logging and certification - projects to upscale and advance forest industry training leading to the uptake of training modules in standard operation procedures of forestry agencies and organisations
- support for capacity building in REDD demonstration activities, which could include strengthening of decision support systems regarding land use and land management options.
Phase II of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Skills and Capacity Building Program is expected to commence in mid-2009 with a public call for detailed proposals.