Outline of Results of the Third Meeting for the Promotion of Asia Forest Partnership (AFP)

26 November 2003

1. On Friday, November 21, 2003, the Third Meeting for the Promotion of Asia Forest Partnership (AFP) was held at the Kisarazu Civic Center in Chiba, jointly organized by the Government of Japan (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Forestry Agency), the Government of Indonesia, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
2. The meeting benefited from the participation of 21 Asian, European and American countries, six international organizations, and many non-governmental organizations (NGO), research institutions and industry participants from Japan and overseas. Representing the Japanese Government were officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Environment and the Forestry Agency, including Ambassador for Global Environment Yoshiki Mine of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the International Forestry Cooperation Office Shigeru Takagi of the Forestry Agency, and Director of the Global Environment Issues Division Shinichi Arai of the Ministry of the Environment.
3. Main results of the meeting;

   (1) At the meeting, further deliberation was undertaken concerning concrete actions that should be prioritized by the AFP in the fields of "measures to combat illegal logging," "prevention of forest fires," and "rehabilitation and reforestation of degraded lands," which were the main objectives of the AFP agreed on the occasion of the Second Meeting for the Promotion of Asia Forest Partnership, held in Indonesia in July 2003. In each field various work plans were submitted and deliberated, including the following: "developing minimum standards of legality, timber tracking and chain of custody(CoC) systems, verification systems among AFP partners," "harmonization of existing initiatives to combat illegal logging in the region and reviewing the existing bilateral agreements and announcements on illegal logging," "creating a framework for cooperation among customs agencies and other relevant agencies in the Asia-Pacific region," "review and revision of all measures regarding the rehabilitation and reforestation of degraded lands," "sharing and joint use of satellite information," and "compilation of a database of training resources in the Asia region on sustainable forest management." As a result, agreement was reached among the partners on the completion of work plans that incorporate the proposals made by each partner.

   (2) Discussions also centered around organizational issues including the creation of an information network and a decision-making mechanism among AFP partners, fund raising and management, and the way to expand and strengthen the partnership, and the importance was reaffirmed of strengthening and promoting AFP activities. In this context it was announced that the Philippines and Vietnam were to become new AFP partners.

   (3) In order to assist AFP activities, the Government of Japan announced the donation of US$100,000 at the meeting. It was announced that this assistance will be specifically utilized in the implementation of surveys and compilation of reports that are generated in connection to the work plan as described above to "develop minimum standard of legality, timber tracking and chain of custody(CoC) systems, verification systems among AFP partners," and to assist in the work of the AFP Secretariat, which is undertaken by CIFOR.