Overview of The Sector 

ASEAN cooperation in forestry was initiated in 1993 on the Ministerial Understanding (MU) on ASEAN Cooperation in Food, Agriculture and Forestry. The backbone of ASEAN cooperation in forestry is sustainable forest management (SFM). Sustainable forest management involves the application of best practices based on current scientific and traditional knowledge that allow multiple objectives and needs to be met without degrading forest resources. It also requires effective and accountable governance and the safeguarding of the rights of forest-dependent peoples. FAO defined sustainable forest management as a “dynamic and evolving concept, which aims to maintain and enhance the economic, social and environmental values of all types of forests, for the benefit of present and future generations”. 

Considering the above, ASEAN has set up the vision of ASEAN Cooperation in Forestry 2025 of which “Forest resources are sustainably managed at the landscape level to meet societal needs, both socio-economically and culturally, of the present and future generations, and to contribute positively to sustainable development”. Inline with this Vision, ASEAN has identified key areas/priorities which include sustainable forest management, forest law enforcement and governance (FLEG), forest products development, conservation and wildlife enforcement, social forestry and forest and climate change. 

The goal for the forestry sector in ASEAN is to “enhance sustainable forest management for the continuous production of forest goods and services in a balanced way and ensuring forest protection and biological diversity conservation, as well as optimise their utilisation, compatible with social and ecological sustainability”.

Priority Areas of Cooperation 

Based on the vision and goal of ASEAN Cooperation in Forestry, key priorities of the cooperation are elaborated into five strategic thrusts that includes:

• Enhancing sustainable forest management
• Enhancing trade facilitation, economic integration and market access
• Enhancing the forestry sector resilience and role in climate change
• Institutional strengthening and human resources development
• Strengthening ASEAN’s joint approaches on regional and international issues affecting the forestry sector.

Strategic Plan of Action for ASEAN Cooperation in Forestry 2016-2026 has been constructed referring to the vision, goal and strategic thrusts that are focusing on supporting policy developments, exchange best practices and experiences, capacity and institutional development as well as partnership.

Some activities, program and initiatives have been implemented to achieve the Forestry Vision 2025 such as i) the development of ASEAN Criteria and Indicator for Sustainable Management of Tropical Forest, ii) the development of the Work Plan for Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) Implementation in ASEAN 2016-2025, iii) the development of regional capacity building tools (Regional Community Forestry Participatory Assessment Tool, Regional Agroforestry for Climate Change Resilient Landscape Manual), iv) the development of regional policy tools (e.g. ASEAN Guidelines for Agroforestry Development, ASEAN Guidelines for Detecting and Preventing Wildlife Trafficking, ASEAN Voluntary Code of Conduct on Imports for Forest and Timber Companies). ASEAN has also been actively involved in UNFCCC and UNFF by submitting several joint submissions on the issues that become common concern such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).

ASEAN has also developed partnership and collaboration with several dialogue partners and international development partners such as Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Germany, China, Asian Forest Cooperation Organisation (AFoCO) and FAO. Some international institutions such as RECOFT, CIFOR, ICRAF, SEARCA and Non-timber Forest Products-Exchange program have also provided  ASEAN with technical expertise. 

Major Sectoral Bodies/Committees 

ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) mandated ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry (ASOF) oversee the implementation of  ASEAN cooperation in forestry. ASOF is supported by five working groups (subsidiary bodies) namely:

1. ASEAN Working Group on Forest Management (AWG-FM):  provides specific policy-oriented research results and policy analysis on sustainable forest management, forest law enforcement and governance.
2. ASEAN Working Group on Forest Products Development (AWG-FPD):  provides specific recommendations and policy analysis on trade in forest products and their development including forest certification, enhancing competitiveness of forest products.
3. ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF): provides specific policy recommendations on the effects of social forestry in enhancing sustainable forest management, to enhance welfare and livelihoods of indigenous people, local communities, forest dwellers and other forest-dependent communities.
4. ASEAN Working Group on CITES and Wildlife Enforcement (AWG CITES and WE): provides recommendation on trade in wild fauna and flora and to strengthen networking of the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement, address challenges of transboundary trafficking of wildlife and timber.
5. ASEAN Working Group on Forest and Climate Change (AWG-FCC): provides specific recommendation on forest and climate change especially related to the effort to reduce emissions and strategy in adaptation and mitigation from forestry sector.

The Working Group under ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry