Ministry of Environment and Forestry and ICRAF strengthen cooperation in Indonesia's agroforestry sector

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (Kemenhut) has strengthened cooperation in Indonesia’s agroforestry sector with the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF/World Agroforestry) through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Jakarta on Thursday. ‘We appreciate that today we have an MoU between the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and ICRAF. ICRAF has long-standing experience, particularly in the management of agroforestry,’ said Mahfudz, the Secretary General of Kemenhut. The partnership between Indonesia and ICRAF has existed since 1993, with the last MoU signed in 2017 and ending in 2022. ‘In connection with that, it is felt necessary to re-activate and establish a partnership through an MoU by signing a new MoU today,’ Mahfudz said. ‘Furthermore, this step is certainly grounded in our need at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to strengthen collaboration with all parties so that we can address forestry-related issues which today are increasingly complex,’ Mahfudz said. ‘There will be several challenges ahead related to climate change, land degradation, and the need to improve the welfare of communities around forest areas,’ he added. This, he continued, is necessary so that agroforestry can operate sustainably in Indonesia and have ecological and economic impacts.