April 26, 2023 — On the 26th of last month, AFoCO hosted the 5th anniversary celebration of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO), the first international organization in the forestry sector established under Korea’s leadership. AFoCO, established through the ratification of the “Agreement on the Establishment of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (Treaty No. 2386)” on April 27, 2018, is an international organization aimed at enhancing forest cooperation within the Asia region. Our membership currently consists of 16 member countries — 14 Parties (Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Republic of Korean, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam) and 2 Observers (Malaysia and Singapore).
The celebration was attended by more than 150 guests, including members of the diplomatic corps, representatives from international organizations such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and executives from SK Forest and Shinhan Financial Group. During the event, AFoCO Executive Director, Dr. Chongho Park, presented the achievements of AFoCO since its establishment in 2018, as well as the “AFoCO 10-year Climate Action Plan,” which outlines the organization’s future vision. (See video below)
Over the past five years, AFoCO has played a central role in international forest cooperation in the Asia region, tackling global issues such as forest restoration, biodiversity conservation, and climate change through various forest cooperation projects. The AFoCO 10-year Climate Action Plan aims to expand the scope and scale of cooperation projects, focusing on forest restoration, community participation, and digital innovation, in order to enable an immediate response to climate change.
At the celebration, Dr. Sung-hyun Nam, the Minister of the Korea Forest Service, praised AFoCO for playing a proactive role as a platform for forest cooperation in Asia since its establishment, and expressed hope that AFoCO will continue to lead forest restoration and climate change response in the region.
