ASEAN Forestry Meetings
The ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry (ASOF) Meeting is the highest regional coordinating ASEAN body comprised of senior officials from forestry government agencies in each ASEAN member state, which meets to discuss, exchange views and address current issues and challenges affecting the forest and forestry sector today. The ASOF is responsible for policy coordination and decision-making in regional forestry cooperation and reports directly to the Senior Officials Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry [SOM-AMAF] which is the main ASEAN body that oversees overall ASEAN cooperation in food, agriculture and forestry, with the guidance of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry [AMAF].
The five subsidiary bodies under the new structure endorsed by ASOF comprises of the following:
- ASEAN Working Group on Forest Product Development (AWG-FPD)
- AWG on CITES and Wildlife Enforcement (AWG-CITES & WE)
- AWG on Forest Management (AWG-FM)
- AWG on Forest and Climate Change (AWG-FCC)
- AWG on Social Forestry (AWG-SF)
Convention on Biological Diversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international legally binding treaty to sustain the rich diversity of life on earth. It is one of the key agreements adopted during the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and was entered into force on 29 December 1993. The CBD establishes three main objectives, as follows: the conservation of biological diversity; the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity; and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
Brunei Darussalam became the 191st party to the Convention on 27 July 2008. With this accession it provides the country an international conservation platform can further strengthens the on-going conservation efforts and strategies on sustainable uses of biological and natural resources in accordance with national and international standards and obligations.
United Nations Forum on Forest
The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) was established by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in October 2000 per Resolution 2000/35. UNFF become a subsidiary body with the main objective of promoting the management, conservation, and sustainable development of all types of forests and to strengthen its long-term political commitments to this end. The forum has universal membership and is composed of all member states of the United Nations.
In 2006, during its sixth session, UNFF agreed on four shared global objectives on forests, providing clear guidance on the future work of the international arrangement on forests. The four global objectives are as follows:
- Reverse the loss of forest cover worldwide through SFM, including protection, restoration, afforestation and reforestation, and increase efforts to prevent forest degradation;
- Enhance forest-based economic, social and environmental benefits, including by improving the livelihoods of forest-dependent people;
- Increase significantly the area of sustainably managed forests, including protected forests, and increase the proportion of forest products derived from sustainably managed forests; and
- Reverse the decline in official development assistance for SFM and mobilize significantly increased new and additional financial resources from all sources for the implementation of SFM.
