Mekong - U.S. Partnership
From January 27 to February 7, 19 senior forestry officials from all 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Member States gather to study Australia and New Zealand’s experience in implementing forestry-related emissions reduction policies. The policy exchange in New Zealand was hosted by the ASEAN Regional Knowledge Network on Forestry and Climate Change, in collaboration with USAID’s Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests program, the ASEAN-German climate change program and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
During discussions and on-site visits, the officials gained valuable insights on how to establish national frameworks to incentivize forest carbon emissions reductions and removals. Participants said the learning will be useful in developing carbon accounting systems for land use and vegetation – in particular information from New Zealand and Australia on global information systems, remote sensing and inventory. This work is part of USAID's regional approach to help develop emissions reduction policies and to strengthen regional platforms to effectively manage forest resources.
From the photo: Samsudin Musa, Head of Climate Change Program, Forest Research Institute Malaysia and Ratana Lukanawarakul, Director of Forest Ecology, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Thailand discussed planted forest management with Carl Hanna, Director, Wood Marketing Services, Ltd., New Zealand.
Source: USAID/RDMA Regional Environment Office Weekly Update
