Alvarez to keynote Asean forestry officials’ meet

The Philippines, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Forest Management Bureau, is hosting the fourth meeting of Asean Senior Officials on Forestry (ASOF) which will start today up to Wednesday, July 25, at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City.

The meeting brings together senior forestry officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam who share resources and information, cooperation and complementation of initiatives in order that international and regional issues facing the forestry sector in the region can be effectively addressed.

Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez will give the keynote address before the delegates and the respective ambassadors and embassy officials of member countries during the opening ceremonies, while Director Romeo Acosta, the new head of the Forest Management Bureau, will preside over the proceedings.

The meetings of the expert group on herbal and medicinal plants and forest products research and development as well as the seminar on international issues was held back to back with the ASOF meeting.

The meetings of the experts on herbal and medicinal plants in ASEAN member countries came about in due recognition of the richness in plant species diversity in the ASEAN region and its potential in the advancement of research and development to provide alternative medicines for the populace.

Likewise, research and development emphasizes the proper utilization of timber as a primary forest resource in the concept of sustainable forest development.

While the seminar on current international issues affecting forestry and forest products dealt on trade-related aspects of sustainable forest management of all types of forests; aspects on the climate change convention and its Kyoto Protocol with special reference to land use, land use change and forestry, and the so-called Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety, particularly that which deals on balancing the competing equities of bio-safety and fair trade.

Undeniably, each country has been exerting efforts to adopt the concept of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), while promoting increased efficiency in resource use to support the needs of the ever-increasing population for wood, availability of water for domestic, agricultural and industrial use as well as clean air, among others.

The ASOF clearly manifest the spirit of "thinking global and acting local" in its efforts towards achieving and ensuring sustainable forest management.