Mekong - U.S. Partnership
USAID LEAF and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations gathered representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam in Bangkok from January 20 to 21 to develop national action plans on drivers of deforestation and a decision support tool on forestry and climate change policy.
Representatives from participating Mekong countries presented the results of national deforestation studies. The group then developed an action plan outline to address drivers of deforestation and an outline for a national decision support tool on forestry and climate change policy formulation. Participants benefited from the recently released ASEAN Regional Knowledge Network on Forests and Climate Change Decision Support Tool for Identifying and Addressing Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, which was developed with assistance from USAID LEAF.
“This tool will help those involved in producing policy recommendations to better understand the policy formulation process as well as provide much needed direction for those responsible for ultimately refining forest legislation and policies,” said Ms. Ratana Lakanawarakul, Director of Forest Environment Division in the Forest Conservation and Plant Research office at the Thailand Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.”
Source: USAID/RDMA Regional Environment Office Weekly Update
