Ministry of Forestry and AFoCO Accelerate Development of Carbon Projects and Social Forestry
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) together with the Asian Forest Cooperation Organisation (AFoCO) is promoting strategic cooperation in the forestry sector, particularly in the development of carbon projects, land rehabilitation, and community empowerment through social forestry.
“The Kemenhut-AFoCO meeting represents a green diplomacy effort as part of President Prabowo Subianto’s state visit to strengthen bilateral relations between Indonesia and the Republic of Korea,” said Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni in his statement in Jakarta on Thursday.
“In particular, to promote strategic cooperation in the forestry sector, including international cooperation organisations headquartered in Korea,” he added.
This strengthening of cooperation was marked by a meeting between Forestry Minister Raja Antoni and AFoCO Executive Director Park Chongho in Seoul, South Korea.
In the meeting, AFoCO expressed appreciation for Indonesia’s active role as a member since 2019.
Indonesia’s membership is seen as having made a significant contribution to enhancing the profile of Indonesia’s forestry sector at the regional level and as an effective means to campaign for sustainable forestry development.
According to Raja Antoni, Director Park emphasised the great opportunities for future cooperation, particularly in the development of carbon projects in Indonesia.
This potential includes social forestry areas, national parks, and concession areas that require support in preparing projects and carbon certification documents.
“In addition, AFoCO is currently developing a blended finance scheme to support reforestation activities on degraded land that can be claimed as carbon projects,” he said.
Furthermore, he stated that AFoCO has also conveyed that the organisation has obtained accredited entity status with the Green Climate Fund, thereby opening broader opportunities for Indonesia to access international funding for sustainable forestry project development.
In addition, AFoCO has currently received funding support from Rabobank for the development of agroforestry carbon projects in the Asia-Pacific region, which is hoped to be replicated in Indonesia.
Forestry Minister Raja Antoni also reaffirmed Indonesia’s commitment to continue contributing actively to AFoCO’s development, in line with Indonesia’s position as the country with the largest tropical forests in Asia.
“Kemenhut is committed to strengthening cooperation with AFoCO in promoting sustainable forest management, including through the development of carbon projects that provide ecological and economic benefits to communities,” he said.
As a concrete step, the Forestry Minister proposed strengthening institutions through the placement of a Permanent Representative from Kemenhut at AFoCO’s headquarters to enhance the effectiveness of coordination and communication between institutions.
“The Ministry of Forestry also invites AFoCO to support the management of 1.4 million hectares of customary forests targeted for management over the next five years,” said Raja Antoni.
AFoCO’s support is expected to strengthen the empowerment of communities holding social forestry permits, particularly in addressing challenges of initial funding access and technical assistance in preparing activity programmes.