RI co-hosts forestry meeting

RI co-hosts forestry meeting

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is cosponsoring a four-day
international forestry meeting, which opened in Ort/Gmunden,
Austria, on Monday.

The Bogor-based Center for International Forestry Research
(CIFOR) said on Wednesday that Indonesia was represented by the
head of the Ministry of Forestry's research and development
agency, Toga Silitonga, and the head of multilateral bureau, in
the talks, which are being jointly sponsored by the forestry
ministries of Austria and Indonesia.

The meeting is expected to produce practical ideas about what
can be done to improve the national and regional overview of the
world's rapidly shrinking forests.

Topics being discussed at the meeting include how to give
local communities a greater role in forest management, what
measures might be adopted to assess sustainability and the value
of biodiversity in forests, and ways of mobilizing funding and
resources to support these efforts. (gis)