ITTO awards $1.3m grant for Indonesian forestry

JAKARTA (JP): The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) agreed on Monday to award a grant of US$1.3 million to support Indonesia's efforts in promoting sustainable forest management.

ITTO executive director Manuel Sobral Filho said after signing the agreement that the grant, approved during ITTO's meeting in the Japanese city of Yokohama in November, would be used to finance three forestry projects.

Besides Sobral, the agreement was signed by the recipients of the grant: Minister of Forestry Nurmahmudi Ismael, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) deputy director general Mafa Chipeta and Adi-Warsita Adinegoro, the president of the Association of Indonesian Forest Concession Holders.

Most of the funds for the grant was provided by Japan and Switzerland.

The Ministry of Forestry said $130,000 of the grant would be used to finance a forest research project in Bulungan, East Kalimantan; US$853,398 for a conservation program for a cross- border forest between East Kalimantan and the neighboring Malaysian state of Sabah; and $326,523 for training some 300 members of the Association of Indonesian Forest Concession Holders.

Minister Nurmahmudi said the grant was intended to gain a better supply of timber.

"These projects will rely on local experts. ITTO doesn't have to send its experts in for these projects," Nurmahmudi said.

He said the accountability of the projects would be important to convince international donors about other forestry programs in the future.

Yokohama-based ITTO is an intergovernmental institution comprising 56 consumers and producers of tropical timber. (O3)