Fifth Session

Summary Record

The Fifth Session of the Assembly of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO), as a regular session, was held in hybrid from 26 to 27 October 2021. The Assembly was attended by Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Republic of Korea (ROK), Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam as Parties, and Singapore as an Observer and the Secretariat. Parties and Observers are collectively referred to as the Member Countries.

The Assembly adopted three decisions as listed in document A-21-5-SR.

Decisions

The Assembly of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO),

Recalling Article 3 of the ‘Agreement on the Establishment of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization’ that the Organization shall promote and undertake partnerships between the Parties and with other entities to carry out cooperative activities by building upon the current initiatives of other forest-related international agreements and organizations;

Having considered the advantages and opportunities of building a strategic partnership, tapping the expertise for capacity building, and widening resources within and beyond Asia working in consistency with the relevant global initiatives;

Wishing to promote cooperation with countries and entities beyond Parties and Observers of AFoCO,

Decides to task the Secretariat to take necessary actions to develop a new category of participation and engagement of countries and entities other than Parties and Observers to AFoCO, including preparation of relevant rules of procedure.

D-41-V-21R Promotion and Enhancement of Partnership
The Assembly of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO),

Having considered the appraisal and recommendations of the respective Project Appraisal Panel (PAP) and the endorsement of the Project Appraisal Committee (PAC) to facilitate the fund mobilization process; and

Taking note of the summary of the project proposal as contained in document D-42-1,

Decides to:
1. Approve the project proposals as below, subject to final notification that the funding has been secured by the donor; and
  - Cambodia (PP-2020-KH-002)
    Site Restoration and Sustainable Management of Community Forest Using Multiple Use Tree Species and Agroforestry
  - Kazakhstan (PP-2020-KZ-001)
    Pilot project on inventory of unaccounted forests in Kostanay and North Kazakhstan regions and automation of the collection of information on forestry
  - Philippines (PP-2020-PH-002)
    Ensuring Functioning of Cultural Ecosystem Services in an Urban Setting: Assimilating Nature for Forest Healing and Experiential Learning in Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center
  - Thailand (PP-2020-TH-001)
    Improving local community’s livelihoods and engagement in sustainable forest and land management in Thailand through Forest Landscape Restoration
  - Viet Nam (PP-2020-VN-001)
    Rehabilitation of degraded and potentially deserted forest land in the Northwest region of Viet Nam through application of integrated technical measures
  - Secretariat (RP-2020-001)
    Improved local community livelihoods through increased income from non-timber forests products (NTFP): Modeling scalable community-based enterprises in Asia
2. Task the Secretariat to facilitate the necessary follow-up actions for project inception in due course, including arrangements for the conduct of the next Donors Meeting within CY2021.
D-42-V-21R Approval of Projects
The Assembly of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO),

Recalling Article 3 of the Agreement on the Establishment of AFoCO;

In accordance with Article 8 paragraph 6 of the Agreement on the Establishment of AFoCO; and

Pursuant to Regulation 2.2 paragraph 3 and Regulation 2.6 paragraph 4 of the Financial Regulations of AFoCO;

Decides to:
1. Approve the Work Plan and Budget for 2022; and
2. Authorize the use of the funds available in the Working Capital Reserve up to USD 150,000 to support the promotion of AFoCO through the Fifteenth Session of the World Forestry Congress (WFC) to be held in 2022, contained in Document D-43-1.