12th Forest Governance Forum, Asia Pacific 2021

FGF Brazzaville Session 2

The first Asia-Pacific Forest Governance Forum took place from 27-30 September 2021.

Over four days, this event featured stimulating exchanges, discussions, and ideas on and around Forest Governance in this critical decade for action on climate, nature and development:

  • FLEGT-VPAs, REDD+ and the other initiatives seeking to improve forest conservation, management and restoration, reduction of deforestation, combat forest degradation and illegal logging
  • Forest monitoring improving transparency, accountability, and biodiversity 
  • Forest governance impacting livelihoods
  • First hand experiences in forest governance from civil society organisations 
  • Regional and international approaches for forest governance, conservation of biodiversity and fighting climate change

We aimed to: 

  • showcase achievements, expertise, and experience of different stakeholders in terms of involving and engaging non-state actors of different kinds in forest governance in South East Asia and the Pacific.
  • influence policy makers and government to support the actions of non-state actors in forest conservation, governance, and forest related efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
  • provide a platform, space and voice for non-state actors particularly indigenous peoples, local communities, and other marginalised groups to engage with policy makers, governments, private sector, and funding partners.
  • demonstrate the importance of equitable and effective forest governance to achieving global goals on nature, climate and sustainable development.

Download full programme

About the FGF

This Asia-Pacific Regional Forest Governance Forum (FGF) is being held as part of the Strengthening non-state actor involvement in forest governance project in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. 

The project is implemented by BirdLife International, jointly with the Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) is funded by the European Union. Find out more about the project.

The FGF is modelled along the well-known Chatham House bi-annual Global Forum on Forest Governance formerly known as the Illegal Logging Update meetings. 

Downloads and recordings

Below you can watch the webinar recordings and download the PowerPoint slides for each session. You can also download the Daily Round-Up emails, in which key issues were summarised and emailed to participants each day during the event.

Opening session: High-level panel on forest governance

This session included keynote speeches and opening remarks about the situation and future of forest governance from prominent experts in the field and senior government officials.

Session 1: Regional and global approaches for improving forest governance, biodiversity conservation and climate change

This session provided an update on how forest governance, climate change and biodiversity conservation policy processes are panning out in Asia. Presentations looked at the progress so far and some of the challenges being faced including the impact of these policies on changes on the ground. Involvement of key stakeholders in these processes was also covered.

Session 2: Exploring how transparency and accountability drive effective forest governance

This session drew on the work of project partners and others in Asia-Pacific and globally on transparency, access to information and accountability. The session focused on both the science and practice of some of the tools and approaches being used to enhance transparency, access to information and accountability including some of the challenges being faced.

Session 3: Public, private or both? The role of non-state actors in forest governance

Presentations and discussion in this session focused on efforts to enhance CSO capacity, multi-stakeholder processes and the challenges of reaching to all stakeholders. For international and regional policy processes to be successful they need to be deliberative and ensure the effective participation of all stakeholders including local people and IPs. This session looked at these issues including how CSO can use their advocacy and influence to ensure meaningful change.

Session 4: Making a difference for the coming decade – Sustaining change and maintaining the momentum

This final session of the Asia-Pacific FGF looked at some of the challenges around CSO sustainability, lessons learnt, what is working and not working. It drew on some emerging efforts in Asia Pacific and elsewhere including Africa to understand the role of non-state actor involvement in forest governance in achieving an equitable, carbon-neutral, nature-positive future.

Closing panel

Get in touch with 

  • Richard Nyirenda, CIDT, University of Wolverhampton: fgf@wlv.ac.uk 
  • Poshendra Satyal, BirdLife International, UK: Poshendra.Satyal@birdlife.org 
  • Hum Gurung, BirdLife International, Malaysia: hum.gurung@birdlife.org


Strengthening Non-State Actor Involvement in Forest Governance in South East Asia

This event is supported by the European Union as part of this project led by Birdlife International. The project supports existing FLEGT and REDD+ initiatives in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines through targeted interventions in forest monitoring, management, planning and policy. Find out more about the project.

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